Titration
by HawkofNavarre
Summary: Dream job? Check! Steady income? Check! Love? She doesn't need it. Of course, that doesn't stop it from finding her anyway. Klavier x Ema
1. Don't Let Caffeine Dictate Your Decision

**Notes:** An eventual Klavier x Ema. I do generally update kind of slowly, but I guarantee a finished product. Please excuse me for the extremely bad name puns...or don't because this is Ace Attorney. **Contains spoilers for Spirit of Justice and, obviously, everything before it** , so be cautious if you haven't finished the game yet.

* * *

 _ **Titration**_ by HawkofNavarre

 **Chapter 1**

 _ **Don't Let Caffeine Dictate Your Decisions**_

* * *

Ema knew she shouldn't have said yes, but she'd only gotten two and a half hours of sleep the night before, was still struggling to pay off student loans with every cent she had, and hadn't had any personal luxuries in over a month. She was weak-willed when he had asked her, with an offer so enticing that she couldn't turn him down.

Free coffee.

Looking back, she was so ashamed of herself that she didn't even want to tell Lana what she'd done. To accept a date for the free food? Not the worst thing in the world, but to accept a date for the free food with a guy she found completely obnoxious? Ema Skye, how could you?

"He seriously won't leave me alone!" she hissed as she dusted the glass fragments on the ground for fingerprints.

"I could probably scare him away from the crime scene for awhile," Trucy Wright offered sympathetically. The Wright Anything Agency was defending the suspect in this case and technically, Ema wasn't supposed to be talking to any of them, but _screw that._ She had things to rant about!

"No, no," the forensic investigator responded with a sigh, gently blowing the powder away. "That wouldn't address the main issue here, but I appreciate it."

"I don't get it. Can't you just tell him you're not interested?" Apollo, who had come back for a brief visit from Khura'in and _still_ had cases thrust upon him, asked unhelpfully.

Ema rolled her eyes. She was the last person on the planet who would worry about being too blunt. "Of course I told him that. You think he took 'no' for an answer? Pft, I should've thrown Snackoos in his stupid face the moment he asked me out."

"So you _told_ him you weren't interested, but he didn't accept that," the young lawyer deduced as he crouched down next to her.

"That's right," she confirmed with a nod. She picked up the shard of glass with a pair of tweezers. It was only a partial, but it'd probably be enough to identify who it belonged to. "You see, Apollo, some people don't respect a woman's decision. The woman has to be property of another man before he'll back off, and that's just the way society is."

"He won't back down because you don't have a boyfriend?" Trucy asked on the other side of Ema, frowning. "Well, I don't think that's right."

The detective tucked the glass shard into an evidence bag, knowing she wouldn't be able to match a partial without the more advanced lab equipment they had back at the office. She rose up along with Apollo and Trucy. "Trucy, you'd better watch out. Boy can be scumbags," she advised the younger girl. "No offense, Apollo," she added as an afterthought.

Apollo's hair was drooping. "Look, can we not throw generalized insults in my direction? I'm just here to investigate a murder."

"So was I before some idiot brought me flowers and chocolate to a crime scene."

"Alright, alright! I get it! I don't really have a solution for you though," Apollo stated, trying to calm her down.

"I know you don't," she sighed as she lifted her pink shades from her eyes, "but thanks to you both for listening. I'll let you know the results of the fingerprints, but I'd say that your client's prints are pretty well going to be the match."

Trucy looked thoughtful while the defense attorney appeared downtrodden; he was always picking up the complex cases. But then again, that was why he had trained under Phoenix Wright. This guy could turn a case around in court in the blink of an eye, and that was only further proven now that he had his own law office back in Khura'in.

"I guess we'd better go back to the detention center and see if our client omitted some details," he said, glancing off towards the exit of the park.

"Shouldn't we help Ema before we go? That guy's still here..."

"I don't think there's a lot we can do, Trucy."

Suddenly, Trucy's eyes lit up like she was on stage at one of her shows at the Wonder Bar. "I know! Apollo can pretend to be your boyfriend!"

Ema tried rather unsuccessfully to hide her frown. Sometimes she forgot that Trucy was a full decade younger than her, the poor girl had been through so much, but it was moments like these that the age difference really showed. It wasn't her fault, and she was just trying to help. In fact, Trucy wouldn't even be thinking of such things if that jerk would just be respectful enough to leave her alone.

"'Apollo' doesn't like that plan," he drawled, unamused.

"Aw, but it worked for my friend Angelica when that guy from our chemistry class wouldn't stop bothering her last year," Trucy replied with a frown.

"Not that I don't appreciate the idea, Trucy, but I've been out of high school for too long to want to do something convoluted like that," the forensic investigator said apologetically. In no universe did she want to have to keep up some charade of Apollo being her boyfriend anyway—and that was even if he would be around for more than a week.

"Well... I'll keep thinking!" the young magician replied determinedly, holding a gloved fist in the air.

Apollo sighed, guiding the girl towards the exit. "We'll see you later, Ema. Good luck with the guy."

She waved to the two as she headed over to where Klavier was speaking to one of the officers. Honestly, out of the people she wanted to deal with today, he really was the last one—besides her stupid persistent coworker, anyway. Of course, Ema had been seriously struggling to hold onto any reasoning she had that wouldn't change her attitude towards him over the last year. She had two solid reasons so far: he was too glimmerous and he was a giant fop. Too bad those were all she could think of, especially since the whole forgery mystery with Phoenix had been cleared up. It was the reason she had hated him in the first place, being the person who had been the reason for Mr. Wright's disbarment. She had hated him before she'd even met him and then hated him even more for his annoying behaviour. And then when she finally had to work under him, he never seemed to take his job seriously and was always too busy being a rock star.

But now...she knew Klavier had just been another pawn in his brother's plans and that made it difficult for her not to sympathize with what had occurred eight years ago. He even proved how seriously he actually _did_ take his job by helping convict both his brother and best friend. So then she couldn't hate him like she had before for any reason other than his annoying foppishness because she was too stubborn to apologize for some of the really terrible things she'd wished upon him in the past.

Besides, it'd just be _weird_ if she was suddenly cordial with him, right?

"The best I have for you is a partial, Gavin," the detective reported as Klavier's attention turned onto her.

"I suppose that's better than nothing," Klavier sighed, running a hand through his bangs. Ema rolled her eyes at the blushing female officer at his side. No good-looking man should render that kind of response unless his name was Miles Edgeworth. "Of course, with Herr Forehead on the case, I knew this one wasn't going to be easy."

"He's just good about choosing his clients," Ema replied with a shrug. She was trying hard not to glare at the officer who was still swooning over the prosecutor.

"Prosecutor Gavin."

Oh God, she knew that voice too well.

"Herr Feller," Klavier greeted the forensic specialist.

"We've finished processing the victim's items," he stated, keeping himself professional to the max—as if he hadn't brought flowers and chocolate to the crime scene earlier to give to her. "As far as the evidence goes, it appears that our suspect is the only one who could have committed the murder."

"Scientifically speaking," Ema interjected in annoyance, "everything we have is circumstantial so far. I have one print and it's only a partial, with no telling whose it is until we get back to the lab."

"Good. Process it as soon as you can. I hate building cases blind," the prosecutor replied as he looked off at some fans screaming behind the yellow tape—yet another thing that grated on Ema's nerves. It was his fault the crime scene was so noisy all the time.

"Officer Tymid, would you please try to calm them down?" he asked the blushing female who quickly scurried off at his insistence. He turned back to the forensic investigators. "Let me know of any of the developments in the case right away. I'm going to check on the autopsy report myself. To be quite honest, the police may have pressed charges against the suspect too soon. Motive is important, but without evidence, I'm not sure how much I can do with this case."

"I believe the lack of evidence is evidence enough," her arch nemesis replied, further irritating Ema. His world views were so black and white that he was even imposing his strong opinion on the prosecutor of the case. _He_ probably should've been a lawyer.

She ignored her irritated feeling, keeping her composure. "I'll go get started on that print."

As she took her first stride, she felt a hand on her shoulder holding her back. She glanced behind carefully, dreading the fact that it might be Dayton Feller trying to get her attention once again. Her stomach seemed to turn to stone as soon as she laid eyes on him.

"Ema, wait."

Her eyes narrowed on him. It wasn't like she had a choice with him grabbing her shoulder like that. "What?" she demanded.

"Would you like to get some coffee before we head back to the lab?" he asked with what she thought was supposed to be a charming smile.

"Not particularly, no."

"We could discuss the case further, collaborate our ideas," he insisted, face solid with determination.

If he were a different man, Ema might appreciate his persistence, but she didn't like him at all. His personality was tolerable at best and she could safely say that she wasn't attracted to him. "I think we've already discussed all there is to be discussed," she retorted, trying her best to shut him down.

"There's always more to discuss in a case with no evidence," Dayton replied smoothly.

Ema was in the middle of thinking about how she might suffocate the man with her family-sized pack of Snackoos when Klavier stepped in, clearly sensing the tension that had risen in the air.

"You pose a good point, Herr Feller. Why don't we all go for some coffee and discuss the case? On me, of course," the prosecutor interjected.

Dayton stared hard at her and Ema returned the favour, her face not wavering in the slightest. "Fine," the detective said, never taking her eyes off the other man.

A moment later, Dayton looked away at their boss and broke into a small, manufactured smile. "On second thought, Prosecutor Gavin, it's already late afternoon, and if I drink caffeine now, I might not sleep tonight. Thank you for the offer though."

Both Ema and Klavier watched the forensic investigator retreat in silence. She glared at his back, wishing her eyes could burn holes in the back of his stupid brunette head. It was a petty thought for someone her age, but she couldn't remember the last time someone induced this much rage from her. His persistence was not in the least bit cute and his disrespect for her decisions put her over the edge.

"So...coffee still?" Klavier offered.

"Yeah, whatever. But I'm paying for myself," she answered stubbornly.

* * *

Ema did eventually end up paying for her own coffee, but only after turning down Klavier's offer twice more. After the last free coffee she'd accepted from a man, she wasn't keen on doing it again— _especially_ not from Klavier Gavin, flirt extraordinaire. He might think of that as some sort of open invitation to flirt with her too. Instead, she just opted to keep it as cheap as she could, getting the smallest size possible and purchasing only regular coffee.

Klavier sat down across from her in the coffeehouse and she was half surprised he'd done so. His proposal had seemed like it was only there to diffuse the situation, but he was actually following through.

"I would have gotten you a larger drink," Klavier stated, amused at the size of her tiny cup.

"I pay my own way, Gavin," she shot back with a shrug. She was too drained to go on the offense, even if this _was_ the glimmerous fop sitting in front of her.

"Alright. I won't bother you any further about it," he replied before changing topics. "Then you and Herr Feller—what was that about?"

"Nothing," Ema said immediately and took a rather large gulp of her coffee. She was disappointed to find the cup almost already empty. All she could hope was that there was enough caffeine in there to last her to the rest of the day.

"Ema," he started, and the aforementioned woman glared at him. Klavier only ever used her first name if he was trying to get something personal out of her, as if lowering the formality would somehow make him more relatable. "If Herr Feller has been harassing you, then I would like to know about it."

"I don't think you should pry into my personal matters," she retorted as she looked out the window, trying to show her disinterest in this conversation.

"I agree," Klavier said amicably, and Ema whipped around to look at him suspiciously, "but I am also your superior. If there's a problem in the workplace, it's my job to see it through. I saw you with flowers and a box of chocolate earlier."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Gavin. I threw them away _outside_ of the crime scene."

"So I'm right in assuming Herr Feller has been causing you problems at work?"

Ugh, that _nosy fop!_ "Look, I can handle it myself. I don't need my boss to be fighting my battles for me," Ema answered, little patience for anything left in her today.

Klavier stared at her for a moment, as if trying to get a feel for what to say next. Instead, he simply shook his head slightly before smiling like the weird, glimmerous alien he was. "I apologize, Fräulein Detective. I didn't mean to overstep. I just want you to be aware that I am available to talk if you ever need me."

"Uh huh," she responded absently, wanting nothing more than for this dreadful conversation to just end. Ema sipped the remains of her coffee and looked at the cup with disdain. The thing seriously needed to carry more liquid. On the other hand, now she had an excuse to leave.

She stood up, beginning to step out from her seat. "Well, if there's nothing else, I'm gonna go."

"Actually, there is something I wanted to ask you, Fräulein," Klavier said, delaying her escape. She glanced forlornly at the glass entrance where a few kids were pushing their way out of the shop. Lucky brats...

"What?" she asked in exasperation.

"I understand this is last minute, and feel no obligation whatsoever to accept this request, but I'm having a small concert at the Moonlight Theater on Saturday night and I'm wondering if you could do security for me," the prosecutor explained and she stared at him incredulously. Did he even _remember_ what had happened at the last concert she had handled security for?

"Saturday is my day off," she pointed out, trying to think of every possible excuse she could find to get out of this job.

"I would be hiring your services privately," he explained. "Like I said, feel no obligation to agree to this. If you're busy, I understand, but if you don't mind working on your day off, then it will be about a six hour job from six until midnight. I've already hired some officers to help out; I just need someone to organize them."

It was certainly not the hardest job in the world, especially being in charge of it all. Still, sacrificing her day lounging around in her pajamas in order to do detail for Klavier? Easy money, but she didn't want to see him any more than she already had to. She opened her mouth to reject his request when he spoke up again.

"I'd pay you double your usual wage for your time."

Ema paused, her brain catching on a certain word. "...Double?"

Klavier smiled. "Correct. Double."

She could barely afford a tiny cup of coffee on her strict financial budget. To do a job that would basically net her two days worth of work and allow her to actually _relax_ for a change was a sweet deal. Gavin had hit her in a weak spot, that was for sure.

Ema thought of the alternative, which she had previously been looking forward to. She was most certainly a homebody, and that helped in her financial situation, but it was also pretty much the only thing she did in her free time. Besides, it was also kind of a double-edged sword. She had a terrible habit of online shopping for handy forensics equipment to use in the field which were much more convenient than the ones she had access to in the lab—and work didn't pay for those. She had splurged on fancy black lights and bottles of chemicals more than a few times.

"Fine," she finally agreed, sinking back down into her chair. "Then I need a list of all the officers you hired for security."

"I'll send it to you tonight."

"And don't you _dare_ push up any deadlines for evidence processing for our case," Ema warned him with a sharp glance.

"Of course not," Klavier replied, his face never changing from its bright expression.

"Okay then," she said, faltering. It was strange having her demands so easily agreed upon. "I really am going now."

"See you tomorrow, Fräulein Detective," the prosecutor replied smoothly. He took a sip of his coffee, offering her yet another smile before he picked up his phone, apparently starting to write an email.

Feeling awkward for just sitting there after she'd already announced her departure, Ema stood with her empty drink cup and headed towards the garbage can near the door. Tossing the cup away, her hand settled on the handle to leave. Instead, she turned abruptly and marched back to the table where her superior was sitting.

"Why me, Gavin?" she asked suspiciously, causing Klavier to look up from his phone.

He looked confused to see her standing there again. "I'm not sure I follow..."

She crossed her arms in annoyance, not wanting to have to explain herself. The whole thing didn't make much sense to her. She'd agree too quickly, she knew, to a deal that was too good to be true. There had to be a catch. There just had to be.

"You're paying me _double_ for a job you could easily ask someone else to do, so why ask me at the last minute?" she elaborated, glaring at him expectantly.

Klavier seemed surprised by the question for a second, but composed himself quickly. "You know, a lot has happened over the last couple of years, Miss Skye," he started as he placed his drink down on the table. His address to her threw her off the most, halfway between his usual "professionalism" and attempt at being personal. This one somehow seemed the most genuine. "I waited until the last minute _because_ I wanted to ask you. We may not have always gotten along, but there aren't many people I trust anymore."

As the words left his mouth, the glimmerous rock star visage seemed to fade a little. Ema didn't know what to make of it.

"Well...okay then," she replied with a nod and then left as soon as she could.

Outside, she walked fast towards the police station, not wanting to think about the way he'd looked just then. She'd seen her boss angry before, and even kind of a mess, but for that one moment, there was a vulnerability in his expression that didn't look right because it was so the _opposite_ of the confidence he always exuded. It reminded her that he had discovered the betrayal of both his best friend _and_ his brother within a few months.

Oh god, she felt _sorry_ for him, and for once, she regretted that she had been confronted by the fact that he wasn't just an insufferable glimmerous fop. And worse, he'd admitted that _she_ was one of the only people he still relied on despite how much they used to dislike each other. All of it was a proof that Ema didn't want, proof that she'd misjudged him for her own biased reasons. Back then, when she was so wrapped up in her bitterness from failing the forensics exam, he had judged her too, but only because she had given him a reason to. Now he was counting on her and she was still caught up in preserving her attitude towards him.

The forensic detective bit her lip, frowning. Alright, fine. She could stand to show a little less animosity when it came to Klavier Gavin. He'd always treated her fairly well in the past, despite her attitude towards him. He'd never cut her salary or anything, even after all those biting words. Admittedly, he already had her respect. She supposed she could give him a shot at civility too.

Ema sighed. She was giving Klavier Gavin a chance? Maybe. She didn't know.

She strode down the street rubbing her temples. All she knew was that being compassionate was turning into a big hassle.


	2. You Need More Than Two Bags of Snackoos

**Author's Note:** Thank you for the reviews, follows, and favs. Dayton's name is most certainly what it is for a reason, so think on it for a bit! I honestly don't think I could ever think of something as crazy as Pees'lubn Andistan'dhin, though...

* * *

 ** _Titration_ ** by HawkofNavarre

 **Chapter 2**

 ** _You Need More Than Two Bags of Snackoos_**

* * *

"You should have some company over _sometimes_. I never understand how you don't get lonely," her sister's voice came through the phone.

"I just like it quiet," Ema said defensively. It was quarter to five in the evening and she was truly on her couch in her pajamas, which was exactly what she had been anticipating for her lazy Saturday. Knowing she had to leave in a little while didn't fill her with as much dread as it should've. "Who would I invite over anyway? Athena? Mr. Wright?"

"Well, you could," Lana replied.

"No, Lana. My lair is sacred," the detective outright denied the suggestions. "Nobody gets in here without a good reason."

"Alright, then why don't I come visit you tonight? Do I have a good enough reason to be let into your 'sacred lair'?"

"You're always welcome in my lair. Tonight's not good though," Ema explained, glancing at the clock again. "I'm working tonight."

"Working? I thought today was your day off," her sister said in a puzzled tone.

"It is. I took a security job on the side to help take care of some of my bills. It pays well," Ema noted casually. The last thing she wanted was to let her sister know she had taken yet another job from Klavier Gavin, who Lana thought was an upstanding prosecutor despite his dumb rock star reputation.

"Ema, you know if you're struggling, I can always lend you some money."

"I think you've done enough for me, sis," she replied, brushing off the offer. "Anyway, I need to get changed for work. I'll call again soon."

"Good. Take care of yourself, okay?"

"You know I will. Talk to you soon."

Ema clicked the received of the phone down and took her time getting off the couch. She still wasn't sure if accepting this job had been the right thing to do, but if Klavier was being honest in his explanation of why he wanted to hire her, then doing this probably wasn't the worst decision she'd ever made. Nope. That one was still accepting free coffee from Dayton Feller.

She donned her work clothes, seeing no reason to drag out the process, then strapped on her gun holster before she put on her favourite lab coat. Now that she did more forensics in the field, she didn't bring her firearm around as often since it tended to get in the way at crime scenes. She let the other officers take care of that aspect of being there while she processed evidence. Regardless, she was fairly comfortable with her gun since she was still an officer of the law and had to take part in training drills all the time.

Ema double-checked the safety on her gun before putting it into the holster. She doubted she would need it tonight, but of course she had to bring it if she was doing security. If it was anything like the Gavinners' infamous last concert, she had better luck beating off fangirls with a stick.

The drive to the theater took fifteen minutes and some of the officers were already standing there socializing. She walked past them, not wanting to put them on the clock early, and headed straight to where the dressing room was located. She hadn't been to this theater before, but it was pretty much the same as the Sunshine Coliseum in the backstage area and the dressing rooms were easy to locate.

Klavier's name was printed plain as day on one of the doors, she assumed the biggest dressing room, and she knocked to report in to him. She heard him call for her to come in amongst the twang of strings in the background, so she opened the door.

The dressing room was much more minimalist than the one he'd been staying in last time, no posters along the wall or numerous products lining the vanity. Instead, Klavier's navy jacket—not purple for once—was draped over the arm of the grey sofa where he sat tuning his guitar.

"Gavin," she greeted him briefly. "Looks like you've got setup underway."

He nodded, still not looking at her as he turned the knob at the head of his instrument delicately. "Everything is indeed running smoothly, I believe. You're a little early though, Fräulein Detective."

"Well, you aren't exactly paying me pennies. I think it'd probably be considerate to do a good job," Ema replied dryly as she took the list of officers he'd sent her a few days ago out of her bag. He continued to pluck strings even as she went full into business mode. "So I've got three people stationed backstage, two at the entrance, three for the actual stage, and four on the floor. How does that sound to you?"

"It sounds like you did your homework, Fräulein Detective. I have no reason to be worried with you here," he responded absently, more focused on his instrument than anything.

"Shouldn't you be a little more concerned after what happened at your last concert?" she asked in annoyance at being neglected when she felt like his security _should_ be a big deal to him.

Finally, he looked away from his guitar and grinned at her. "Do not worry; this guitar has not been recently shipped from any foreign location," he joked, trying to soothe her irritability. However, his face fell into a weary expression. "Honestly, fräulein, I'm trying not to think about it. That's why I hired you. I trust you, and therefore I am focusing all my energy into that trust. I would not be able to play tonight otherwise."

She appreciated the honesty in his answer and dropped the tropic. Clearly he was as anxious about this whole thing as she was. Still, the only thing she could do was do a good job tonight and ensure everything went smoothly. There were only competent officers on the job tonight, and knowing she could count on them would certainly take some of the pressure off her shoulders. Hell, as long as nobody got shot today, she'd count the job as a success.

"I'll make sure everyone knows what they're doing. Sorry to interrupt your warm up," she said dutifully.

"It's no interruption," he called after her as she headed for the door. He was doing well in pretending to be easygoing for now and she had to make sure that didn't change. She didn't want a difficult night herself, and as long as no one got shot or there weren't any issues with the sound equipment, everything would be peachy. After all, Klavier was nothing short of a perfectionist when it came to music.

Ema perused the stage for a few minutes after she left the dressing room, mostly to make sure that everyone was doing what they looked like they were doing. Klavier's manager had handled the whole setup crew, who had to be trustworthy if he hadn't asked her to look in on them before they were let into the venue, but it didn't hurt to be extra cautious. Luckily, she didn't see anything that looked to be out of the ordinary and instead moved on.

She arrived back outside to have the officers working security tonight to sign in with her as she distributed duties and earpieces along with that. Setup was always kind of boring, but she wasn't sure if it was better or worse when the music started blaring on all the speaker. Things were slow as she walked up and down the hallways, waiting for the show to start.

One hour later, she gave in and started eating her first bag of emergency Snackoos. Guests for the show were starting to arrive and she was watching over the officers looking through bags for booze and drugs. That also meant listening to a hell of a lot of females giggling over Gavin and grating on her nerves. The one earpiece she had did little to block it out.

Sighing, everything looked under control, so Ema headed backstage again. She paused, eyes narrowing when she saw a middle-aged woman standing near the entrance to the back hallway.

"Excuse me, you can't be here," Ema called to the woman, who turned in surprise. Her eyes were wide, as though she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't be...which really was what just happened.

The female had long, brown hair that was sticking to her sweating face and Ema figured that this lady must want to meet Klavier _really badly_ if she looked this crazed trying to get backstage. Definitely not good for her boss' self-important ego.

"Right... Sorry..." the woman apologized, hands wringing at the bottom of her shirt nervously.

Swiftly, she moved past Ema back into the lounge, the detective watching her carefully. The woman continued to play with her shirt as she left. Ema glanced at the bag at the woman's side which wasn't big enough to fit anything else except a wallet or a phone. She most certainly didn't seem like a threat, and Ema concluded that her initial assessment of the middle-aged lady just being another fan was probably right.

There was nothing else interesting that occurred until the start of the show besides Ema resisting the urge to open her second and last bag of emergency Snackoos. For the most part, she didn't see her boss at all until he came out to prepare to go on stage. She stood to the side, inspecting the stage, which only had a stool and some speakers on it. It was oddly plain for Klavier's flashy taste.

"Any problems, Miss Skye?" Klavier's manager, Argin Ayzed, asked Ema. "Mr. Gavin is on in sixty seconds otherwise."

She shook her head. "No. All clear."

With that, Argin muttered the go-ahead into her walkie-talkie and a second later, Klavier walked onto the stage with his guitar. The screams started immediately and Ema groaned inwardly. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

"Last song of the set," Argin's voice crackled through her earpiece.

"Roger that. Hallway's clear," Ema relayed back into her walkie-talkie.

It looked entirely unprofessional, but Ema was sitting on one of the wooden crates in the backstage corridor while she supervised the area. The visibility was good and since the box was back against the wall, nobody could sneak up on her. The night had been very uneventful, though on the bright side, she hadn't found the music to be nearly as irritating as she'd originally anticipated. Klavier hadn't been kidding when he'd said this would be a small concert. The theater allowed 300 people at capacity, which it was, and the entire performance had been acoustic. There wasn't any overly loud rock music—just the strum of steel strings and Klavier's (admittedly) smooth, melodic voice.

She waited for the song to finish, the tune drifting overhead from the hallway speakers.

" _Justice meets the heart, the lies begin to fall apart and suddenly you're asking me to choose. And what is there to choose, between the truth and you when everything I knew was just a lie?_

" _Betray myself for you, why did you ask me to? Guess all's fair in love and justice... Act as if you cared and use me for your schemes. Guess all's fair in love and justice..._ "

Ema winced listening to the lyrics. Gavin was known for writing songs about love and the legal system—which was so _nerdy_ that she couldn't believe that his music sold so well—but his songs were never quite _that_ depressing. The tune was a bit sad and regretful, but beautiful at the same time. It was much better than the Gavinners' "Guilty Love," which was so popular that it had topped the billboard for fourteen weeks straight. She actually _knew_ what this was about though, and it was better than any other song she'd heard from him other than "The Guitar's Serenade."

"He's on his way," the manager stated from stage side.

Ema saw Klavier round the corner into the hall, handing off his guitar to one of the sound staff, and she fell into step with him as he headed back to the dressing room. "Got 'im," she relayed back.

"Enjoy the show, fräulein?"

"You really think I paid any sort of attention?"

He laughed as he casually placed his hands in his pockets. "Of course not."

When they reached the dressing room, Ema followed him inside to make sure nothing was amiss as he grabbed a water bottle from the table and lay back on the couch. The other officers she had assigned to the backstage area were at the entrance and covering the emergency exit. Argin was busy having everything put away, and she had been Klavier's manager for long enough that Ema trusted that the woman would notice if anyone not on her staff was there. That meant Ema was left to watch over her boss directly.

"I'll be outside," she told him, walking towards the door.

"Just stay in here, Fräulein Detective," Klavier said, waving a hand. "I think there is little difference in my security whether you're in here with me or standing outside."

She frowned. "And what if someone were trying to get into your room?"

"Then it will be good you're in here to protect me," he replied, grinning playfully.

Ema rolled her eye. "Gavin, why do you want me in here?" she asked in exasperation.

He ran his hand through his hair, messing it up and looking slightly uncomposed for once. "Ach, you have been forcing many truths from me recently, fräulein." He sighed loudly. "Frankly, I do not want to be alone in here. Silence leaves too much time to think about the past."

Oh great. Now she _couldn't_ leave him. He trusted her and Ema was hardly some heartless bitch that would leave someone she sort of considered a friend by himself when he appeared so despondent. Besides, talking to Klavier when he wasn't in glimmerous fop mode certainly seemed better than standing outside by herself for another couple of hours.

She walked over to the couch across from him and sat down. "Alright then, Gavin. Then you wanna talk about how seriously depressing that last song in your set was?"

"Ah, caught onto that, did you?" he asked with a tired smile. "I wrote it in half an hour the day my brother was revealed to be a murderer for the second time. Today was the first time I have ever performed it."

"Well...at least it sounds alright," she admitted.

He beamed at that comment. "High praise from Fräulein Detective! I am flattered!"

"Don't let it go to your giant head," Ema drawled. She was trying to be civil, but she could hardly do that if it was just going to boost his ego more.

Klavier chuckled, taking another sip of his water. "Miss Skye, I've been meaning to ask..."

Ema shifted uncomfortably. Things had been very light-hearted since they got to his dressing room, but suddenly seemed as though the atmosphere had taken a turn for the serious. "Uh...what?"

"Why did you keep working for me?" he asked earnestly. "Once you passed your forensics exam, you could have transferred departments to be a lab technician, especially since you obviously dislike me. You could have been rid of me and been doing what you love, but you chose to stay in the Criminal Affairs Department when you came back from Khura'in and I can't say I understand why."

It was a good question, especially since when the department had been low on staff, she had been assigned to work with Prosecutor Sahdmadhi instead... Like _that_ had been a walk in the park. She'd even found herself missing Klavier in some respects. After all, she had been forced to deal with far more personal dilemmas when it came to her friends with the foreign prosecutor than anything, and that'd been a highly stressful experience. However, overall, he had been pleasant to work with—especially after all his family issues had been worked out.

"Contrary to what you may believe, I don't actually hate you," she answered, digging for another bag of Snackoos, forgetting it had already been consumed. She was too focused on the fact that she was having a sober conversation with Klavier, and there was no telling how much snack support she might need. "You're just so showy about everything you do and it irritates the hell out of me."

He briefly glanced down at the thick chain necklace he was wearing and shrugged. "What can I say, fräulein? I am a performer at heart."

"And yet you disbanded the Gavinners to pursue law further. Maybe you went with the wrong career," Ema retorted as she gave up searching for the bag of munchies.

Klavier waved off the suggestion. "Law and music are both important parts of me, but there is only one that I would dedicate my life to. I still write music when inspiration strikes and that is adequate, but I would not be able to give up searching for the truth every day," he admitted, smiling fondly at the mention of his career.

She tried really, really hard not to let the snarkiness emerge from her mouth, but she just couldn't help it when she thought about her friends situation for seven years. "Sure didn't find the truth when you helped frame Mr. Wright."

He was silent for a moment, looking a little hurt, but like it or not, he had been involved in Phoenix's disbarment—something Ema continued to feel the injustice of.

"I suppose I deserve that. I will not make excuses. It was foolish on my part to have accepted my brother's lies so easily," Klavier replied and suddenly Ema _did_ feel remorse sinking in for her comments. He clearly still felt guilty for letting Kristoph use him all those years ago.

"Look, Gavin, I didn't mean to be so harsh," she apologized, nervously chewing on her lip.

"No need for apologies, fräulein. Mistakes drive me to be better in my pursuit of the truth. Herr Forehead and Herr Wright made me see that I _could_ be better," he responded dismissively.

Ema stared at him for a moment, still confused at how he could say he was so passionate about the law and be sitting here after a concert. "I don't get it. If you gave up being a professional musician because you wanted to focus more on law, then why start holding concerts again after like a year and a half?"

He looked at her with a fatigued expression and sank back against the couch cushions. "You know all the right questions to ask, Miss Skye..."

For a moment, she thought that was where he was going to draw the line, but the sound of his voice surprised her.

"Dr. Rhinke recommended I play a few concerts this year."

Her mouth flapped in disbelief. "Wait, Dr. Sheldon Rhinke? As in the department's psychologist?"

"'A psychological evaluation is mandatory for all individuals involved in Criminal Affairs, including the prosecutor's office,'" he recited slightly robotically. "That is what Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth said to me when I asked to skip it."

She felt a twinge of empathy for him, knowing how much she dreaded her own yearly evaluations with the psychologist. She liked the guy well enough, but the idea of just candidly revealing her deepest feelings to a person she barely knew made her extremely uncomfortable.

"I am no more a fan of psych evaluations than you are," he said, addressing her obviously irked expression, "but Dr. Rhinke made valid points. That last Gavinner's concert is a reminder of Daryan's betrayal. I was informed of Kristoph's not long after. That concert was the beginning of a nightmare."

"So these concerts are to rid yourself of that association," she concluded.

"And to remind myself of why I enjoyed them in the first place," Klavier added. He let out a soft breath and smiled at her. "That being said, I'm glad I listened. And you are here, ensuring my thoughts do not become so dark, ja?"

"Choosing to spend your time with your head detective is a terrible idea," Ema replied with a snort. "It's like all you do is work."

"Perhaps, but you're here with me as well, aren't you?" He was grinning like he'd won a game they were playing, although there clearly wasn't one.

"Probably a terrible idea," she retorted, absent-mindedly digging into her bag again. If only there were another bag of Snackoos...

"Ah! And there is the dislike for me again! But you haven't answered why you stayed in the Criminal Affairs Department," he shot back, his tone playful.

She chewed on the inside of her cheek in annoyance. "Maybe because I like investigating crime scenes, Gavin. I mean, scientifically speaking, doing forensics in the field is the most endorphin-inducing activity possible. I can even tune out those ridiculous fans of yours screaming when I'm fingerprinting..." Ema rambled, her irritation turning to passion. "And luminol... Let's talk about luminol. Spraying it on all those surfaces, finding where blood's been wiped away... Don't even get me started on how amazing the chemical reaction between..."

Caught up in her passion for forensic science, she forgot who she was talking to as she went into an extraordinarily detailed explanation on how to identify the type of blade used in a stab wound. She was in the middle of talking about the advances of DNA testing between 2016 and 2026 when her earpiece buzzed to life.

"Detective Skye? Are you there?"

She paused in her slew of scientific commentary, eyes drifting over to her audience who was looking at her in bright amusement. Oh god, she had gone into full science mode right in front of Gavin.

Ema cleared her throat, desperately trying not to let her embarrassment show as she clicked on her microphone. "Yes, what is it?"

"Everything's been taken down and put in its proper place, and Klavier always insists on staying until everything's finished in case something comes up, so you can let him know we're done," Argin's voice came from the line.

Her brow crinkled up in confusion. "What? You guys are done already?"

"...Detective Skye, it's past midnight. It's wasn't that fast..."

" _Midnight?_ " she gaped in outrage.

As if on cue, Klavier looked at his watch. "Oh, so it is past midnight! They must have finished cleaning up by now."

"Uh, yeah..." Ema trailed off, dumbfounded. "I'm...just going to make sure everything's good and I'll head home, I guess."

The prosecutor nodded, standing up to go pack his bags. "Sounds good, fräulein. I appreciate you keeping me company tonight. It was fun!"

"Sure, Gavin," she replied curtly, then spun on her heel and headed out the door.

Oh god, oh god, oh _god_. She'd spent two hours with the glimmerous fop and hadn't even noticed? The world had to be falling apart. Or she had to be losing her mind. And even worse, she couldn't even figure out how long she had been raving about forensics—and for how long Klavier had been sitting there _listening_ , for that matter. This was the last thing she'd ever expected going to work tonight and the thought of the whole thing made her extremely uncomfortable.

 _What the hell, Ema? What the hell?_

She let out a loud breath and smacked her cheeks gently to get herself focused on the task at hand. Despite having spent the last two hours decidedly _not_ doing any sort of security, she still had a job to do. It was her duty to make sure the grounds were clear before she went home. She also had to get someone to escort her boss to his car safely. There was work to be done and that was what she would do.

She lifted the walkie-talkie to her mouth, pressing the transmit button. "Alright, guys, how's everything looking?"


	3. I Did It For Science

**Note:** Thanks for your comments, favs, and alerts! Dayton has more of a purpose in this story than to just be a bad name pun, I swear.

* * *

 ** _Titration_ ** by HawkofNavarre

 **Chapter 3**

 _ **I Did It For Science**_

* * *

It had been a rough day. Ema had testified in court that morning for the fop, and just like he'd said, they didn't have enough evidence to definitively say the man they'd arrested was the murderer. Phoenix had made relatively short work of the case, if she were being honest. If Klavier had been a worse and less-prepared prosecutor, he would've looked like a fool in the courtroom with the way things had gone down. Ema had taken a rather distressing beating on the stand as well as the lead detective. Her frustration at the pushiness of the police commissioner to make an arrest had only been surpassed after she had failed the forensics exam for the third time.

Thankfully, she had a cup of coffee in her hands. The rush of caffeine in her system was a welcome sensation after the way Phoenix had torn her testimony to pieces. Even better, after working security for Klavier's concert the other night, she was able to loosen her purse strings a little.

Luckily, the rest of the day would be fairly easy, considering Phoenix and Klavier had teased out the details of the case in the courtroom. The right man was now in custody and all she had to do was some paperwork to complete the processing. It would be boring, but pretty calm until she was assigned her next case.

"Ema."

 _Wrong, Ema. Not boring. Or calm._

"Good morning, Dayton," she greeted the visitor to her desk wearily. She had very little patience for dealing with him today, and the coffee she'd picked up earlier was not going to help all that much.

He sat down in the chair in front of her desk, smiling at her casually. "So I guess I was wrong about the killer then. I just can't believe it. The evidence so clearly pointed to our suspect," he admitted, head cocked to the side in thought. She was unsurprised that people in the Criminal Affairs Department thought he was cute—smart, romantic, gentle mannerisms, aesthetically pleasing facial features… Scientifically speaking, she should've been attracted to this man if she were going by society's standards.

Of course, Klavier Gavin was a similar case and she didn't want anything to do with either of them.

"Well, that's why they call it 'framing,'" Ema replied dismissively. She continued to fill out the piece of paper in front of her, hoping the forensic investigator would get the hint since her directness had somehow already failed.

"You have a very good point," Dayton conceded, which led to an uncomfortable long silence that Ema ignored. She continued to work on the report in front of her, wondering how long he was just going to sit there. She didn't want to deal with him any longer than she had to.

"So you went for coffee with Prosecutor Gavin that time I asked you at the crime scene," he suddenly commented.

She scribbled furiously on the piece of paper in front of her. Spelling mistake there, smudged words here... "You were the one who brought it up."

Dayton was relentless in the obnoxious department. "And I declined afterwards, meaning you essentially went on a date with Prosecutor Gavin," he finished.

Finally, Ema dropped her pen on the table, unable to take anymore of this. "Oh my _god_ , Dayton. I went out on one coffee date with you, realized I wasn't interested, have turned down all subsequent date requests, and yet you're still on this? I don't think I can be any clearer about this," the forensic investigator hissed in absolute exasperation.

"You're not interested, I know, but I think if you really gave me a fair chance, you'd change your mind," he shot back in retaliation. "Besides, I wouldn't get anywhere if I just gave up on the things I wanted."

She was certain she was starting to feel a migraine coming on. Ema was the last person on the planet who would claim patience as one of her virtues, but _boy_ was her patience wearing thin.

"I think I gave you a fair shot and I don't have anything other than platonic feelings for you," she lied, mostly because any feelings she _did_ have for him had quickly turned into ones of animosity after that coffee date. He was like some guy lamenting about being trapped in the "friend zone," banging on the doors like a brat until she paid attention to him.

"It was coffee, Ema. To me, that opened the door for something more," Dayton stated in determination. If anything, that man knew how to be the most persistent thing since her trying to become a forensic investigator. His eyes were locked onto hers and he wasn't backing down at all. "All I want is to take you out on a _real_ date, Ema, some place that isn't a coffee shop, with a nice atmosphere where we can sit face-to-face and get to know each other."

"I don't think so," she refused him again as she picked up her writing instrument, ready to end this discussion.

"Come on, Ema. We're both people of science. Isn't it our job to consider all possibilities until we find the right one?"

She froze, her jaw set in anger. He was trying to manipulate her into agreeing to this date. Even worse, it was working. To insult her ability as a true investigative scientist was to _challenge_ her, and by the slightly smug looked on his face, he knew that too.

She seriously hoped that this would be where everything ended.

"One date," she relented, "and that's it. Next time, if I say no, it's a no you're going to accept."

"Of course."

"Alright then. Tomorrow night at six."

"Wonderful. I'll pick you up. What's your address?"

"You can pick me up at the precinct," Ema denied him quickly. The last thing she wanted was gifts showing up at her doorstep, and considering how he'd brought her flowers and chocolate to a crime scene, she definitely wouldn't put some romantic notion like blasting "In Your Eyes" out of a boombox outside her window past him.

Still, he nodded with a smile. Evidently, he was happy with what he was given to work with. She would've thought the dimples that appeared on his cheeks were cute if she didn't know how completely annoying he was.

"Great. Wear something nice," he advised her before he popped up and headed back to the lab.

Somewhat regretting her decision, Ema put her pen back down on the desk and opened her top right drawer, pulling out a bag of Snackoos from her stash. The things she did for science...

* * *

She didn't know if things would become better or worse by going on this date, but she had resolved to give it an honest chance, just as Dayton had requested. It seemed ethically wrong to her to do anything else, especially since she had accepted on the grounds of _science_. And so here she was at her desk in at the precinct at 5:50 in the evening wearing a nice little black dress that Lana had forced her to buy a couple years back along with high heels. Legitimate high heels. Not low wedges or anything. Ema _loathed_ wearing heels.

Yet here she was, waiting to go on this date in an outfit she would otherwise never dream of wearing. Life was hard sometimes.

"Fräulein Detective! You are looking nice tonight!"

She whirled at the voice in horror. However, as soon as that blond hair was in her sights, her stomach dropped in confirmation. The last thing she needed was more ammunition to give to Gavin to tease her with.

"What are you doing here, Gavin?" she asked in resignation. This was what she got for coming back to work early to prepare for her date like a polite person.

"Just needed to pick up some files on my way home," he replied casually, grinning, "although I am certainly glad I decided to do it myself. I may not have seen you looking so beautiful."

Ema rolled her eyes. Like those lines would ever work on her. Klavier certainly did know how to shoot his sweet-talking mouth off though. If she were someone else, she'd probably be on her knees from how absolutely _romantic_ and _wonderful_ he was.

"Save it. It's not like anyone can trust your sense of appearance when you wear clothes like _that._ "

As usual, Klavier burst out laughing at her scalding comment. "Ach! Fräulein, you wound me!" She thought that he was going to continue poking fun at her like he always did, but he turned and winked at her instead. "I will leave you be, since you're obviously waiting for a date. You really do look beautiful tonight, Miss Skye."

The sincerity was something she was unprepared for and she couldn't keep the tint of red off of her cheeks as he walked off. "I don't need _you_ to tell me that," she muttered stubbornly.

He always had the ability to leave her irritated, not that her mood had much improved since yesterday after having to give in to Dayton's request. Sulking that he still managed to get in the last word, she touched up her makeup as she waited for her date to arrive.

It bothered her that Klavier could still get under her skin. He just had to act like his normal self and voila, she wanted to grab the closest bag of Snackoos and shove them into her mouth. And though he was flirtatious on a daily basis, wore his gaudy chains, and left all the investigating at crime scenes to his subordinates, she knew he was more than that. He was different in her eyes, but he was also still the same. _That_ was why it bothered her.

Her thoughts were cut short when Dayton appeared, holding a nicely wrapped box in his hands. "Hello, Ema. You look gorgeous," he greeted her with that charming smile that did nothing for her.

"Thanks," she replied courteously, giving him a once over. He was wearing a blue collared shirt and black pants. Nothing special or out of the ordinary. "You look good too."

Dayton beamed like she had given him the greatest compliment ever. Ema inwardly groaned, thinking that she probably shouldn't have said anything at all.

The box in his hands turned out to be a new bottle of luminol, which was a thoughtful gift to get her in general, considering flowers seemed extremely pointless to her. She was actually kind of impressed that he might have gotten the memo about his bringing her a bouquet _last_ time. Who knew, but she accepted the present, nonetheless, and for once she didn't feel dreadful about it.

She followed him out of the precinct to his car. It was a very respectable car, probably something that she wouldn't be able to afford for at least another five years—and that was only if she was able to pay off all her student loans. He opened the door for her to step into like a gentleman and then they were off.

True to her word, Ema put in effort. She commented that his car was nice and asked when he'd gotten it. He told her that he'd bought it new a couple of years ago after he'd been accepted as a forensic investigator. The conversation carried on as easily as it could between two people who didn't care too much about cars. He asked her if she had a car and when she told him no, he asked her if she had ever considered getting one. It was such an innocent conversation that Ema realized that it was the first time she had no problem with him.

They arrived at a fancy seafood restaurant, which had Ema feeling glad that she had taken Dayton's advice to "wear something nice," if only not to make a fool of herself in front of a bunch of people. They had a reservation and they were seated immediately at a two-person window table. Soft jazz music played in the background, giving the restaurant a romantic atmosphere among the low lighting and dark red colours. There was a dainty centerpiece on the table, a single glass vase that held a dethorned rose, although the rose looked like it hadn't been replaced in a couple of days. The petals were crumpled and drooping and Ema was amused that such a fancy restaurant wouldn't have caught something like that.

The pair of them didn't really speak until their orders were taken. She was too busy marveling at how high the prices were and trying to figure out whether she should feel bad or not for ordering something on the pricier side of the menu. Then again, Dayton had chosen the place, manipulated her into going on a date with him, and had been ridiculously persistent over the last three weeks. With that in mind, she ordered the lobster for herself.

"Ever since I first laid eyes on you, I knew that I had to have a date with you," Dayton said, not mincing sappy words.

"And when was that?" she asked absently, unimpressed by his flattery.

"The forensics exam three years ago. I forgot a pen to write the exam with and you lent me one," he supplied with a soft smile. "It was a really considerate thing to do."

Oh, so it was a little act of kindness that had gotten her into this situation? And that was one of the exams that she'd _failed_. She didn't remember offering him a pen at all, but it did sound like something she would do. The bitterness of failing the exams was something she had more or less gotten over now that she had her dream job, but the irony that this man who kept hassling her for dates had only passed because she'd brought a few (it was actually more like ten, in her crazed determination not to let anything prevent her from passing the exam) extra pens with her made her heart sink a bit.

"Well, it's nice that you were able to write the test because of that," Ema said, smiling awkwardly. "But if you wanted to date me so badly, then why did you only ask me out recently?"

"Once I was accepted as a forensic investigator, I was placed on Prosecutor Blackquill's team. You were still with Prosecutor Gavin at the time, and because of that, I never really saw you," Dayton answered as the food arrived. He shifted the cutlery in front of him to make room for their dishes, but didn't pause in his explanation. "I requested a transfer to Prosecutor Gavin's team as soon as I hit a year in forensics and I was lucky enough to get through. It was unfortunate that after I got transferred, you were assigned to Prosecutor Sahdmadhi because of the short staffing. And then, of course, you went to work abroad with him for half a year, and when you came back, I was nervous they were going to place you with a different prosecutor."

Ema bit her lip. To know how long he had been pining after her was kind of...weird. That he wanted to ask her out that much did strike her as a little sweet. At the same time, he had totally set himself up for heartbreak. She hadn't even known who the hell he _was_ until a few months ago.

She suddenly _really_ wanted some Snackoos, but as she looked down, there was only a plate of lobster and pasta in front of her. Eh. She'd take what she could get.

Considering they were in a really nice restaurant, she didn't start stuffing her face like she would with her favourite munchies. Instead, she picked up her spoon in her left hand, grabbing the fork with her right, and swirled the pasta like a dignified lady.

"I'm...flattered, Dayton, but don't you think that's going a little far for someone you don't even really know?" she questioned hesitantly, mostly because she was a little nervous to hear the answer.

"One cannot be half-hearted when it comes to matters of love," he replied as if it was that simple.

She poked at her lobster nervously. That was most certainly not what she wanted to hear. She could understand that level of longing if two people broke up after having a long relationship, but Dayton had known almost nothing about her besides the fact that she was passionate about science and had been nice enough to offer him a spare pen when he'd been in need. If she could disregard everything she already knew about him, she _still_ wouldn't want to go on a date with someone who was that into her. It would be like being in the passenger seat of a car that was going way too fast; maybe the driver would be comfortable with the speed, but she sure as hell wouldn't. She could feel this date going slowly downhill with every development.

"So you had a case with Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth a little while back. How was it working with him?" Dayton continued politely as Ema just continued to follow the conversation. At least it was an easy topic to talk about.

"The best," she said honestly. Working with Miles Edgeworth had been a dream come true. Not only was he impressively thorough with his investigations, but he openly praised her for her skills as well. It had been the best day of work ever, one she'd cherish while shunning the memory of Mr. Wright picking her carefully crafted testimony to pieces the very next day. "He was so professional—he just exudes experience when he's at a crime scene. But at the same time, he was very polite and appreciative of my work. Definitely a model prosecutor."

"You're lucky! I can only imagine what working with the Chief Prosecutor was like," he replied, enthused before he sighed. "It would be nice to work under a prosecutor who was _serious_ for a change."

She'd been enjoying her lobster. She really had been. Until now.

Ema frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

Her date chuckled as he took a sip of water. "Come on, Ema. You can't honestly tell me that you think Prosecutor Gavin takes this job seriously. I mean, just _look_ at him."

She could feel her blood begin to boil, but she suppressed it to a simmer. It was a fair assessment for someone who hadn't worked for Gavin as long as she had. "Yeah, I thought the same thing about him for a long time, but that isn't true at all. Gavin really cares about justice," she defended her boss, trying to reason with her coworker.

"I don't know how you can say that," Dayton admitted incredulously. "I thought for sure we'd be on the same page about this. I mean, the guy plays air guitar in court! How can you even say he cares with a straight face?"

It was then that Ema realized that the feeling of dread she'd had about this date going downhill had been successfully fulfilled. She remembered the reason that first coffee date had gone so badly back then; it had all come down to Dayton's stubbornness and closed-mindedness. And at _that_ time, it had just been a simple discussion about _coffee._ Now, he was refusing to accept her different perspective on Klavier, which was ridiculous considering she'd used to hate Gavin for the exact same reasons as him.

"He helped expose his best friend _and_ his brother as the true culprits in court. It seems like he takes his job seriously to me," the forensic investigator argued. She was offended _for_ Gavin and all she wished was that she had another bag of Snackoos to throw at this judgemental prick's head.

"But did he really have any other choice? It seemed to me that he was just out-manoeuvred in court."

Her jaw dropped along with her fork, the piece of silverware falling onto the other cutlery with an audible clang. Over and over and over again, all she heard were compliments, often to great hyperbole, about Klavier Gavin. On occasion, there were little salty remarks about his obnoxious personality from people like Apollo or herself, but never in her life had she ever heard anyone talk down about her boss like Dayton was doing right now. Even Kristoph's cold dismissal in court didn't measure up to this after he'd realized his younger brother was no longer on his side. But Klavier's reputation as an international prosecutor was good for a reason, and she'd had a front row seat to that for two years. For someone to say otherwise enraged her to no end. He didn't deserved to have his name slandered anymore than Phoenix had.

"Of _course_ he had a choice," she growled, standing up and turning to gather her bag, "and so do _I._ I'm out of here."

Her date jumped to his feet in concern. "What? Ema, be reasonable. It's just a difference of opinion," he tried to placate her.

"Yeah, about our _boss_ , who I happen to think is a _good_ prosecutor, even if he's the most annoying glimmerous fop in Los Angeles," Ema shot back without missing a beat. She spun to storm out, but the ringing of her cell stopped her.

Vaguely, she heard the ringing of another mobile as she answered the call. "Hello?"

"Detective Skye? There's been a homicide."

"On it," she replied, kind of relieved to have something else to think about besides the date she'd just been on. "Text me the address."

Ema ended the call and saw Dayton holding his phone out of the corner of her eye. Clearly, he'd just been on the phone as well. He looked at her hopefully.

"I'll drive?" he offered.

* * *

She was looking down at her tablet to look at the victim's information when a smoothly-lined jacket slid over her shoulders. Surprised, Ema glanced back to see Klavier standing behind her in just his black button-down and realized that the sport jacket he normally wore was now on her.

"It wouldn't be good for the lead detective to be cold at the crime scene," he told her warmly. She almost rejected the statement and article of clothing as she normally would, but for once, it didn't sound like he was trying to get a rise out of her, and she hadn't brought a coat on her date with Dayton. It was generally sunny where they lived, but it still got chilly at night.

Shrugging, Ema immediately briefed him on the case. "The victim's name is Garret Fehl. It looks like someone pushed him off the fire escape of this apartment building, but it's going to be hard to figure out from what height."

Klavier snapped his fingers in thought. "Lots of legwork to be done about interviewing the tenants as well before we can even pinpoint a suspect, I assume," he stated with a nod. "It's unfortunate that this had to interrupt your date, Fräulein Detective."

She sighed, making a mental note of how comfortable Klavier's jacket really was. The gigs from his musical career paid seriously well if he could afford to wear something like this on a regular basis. "No, I'd much rather be here than where I was," she replied testily, "even if working in heels sucks."

The prosecutor blinked at her, slightly taken off-guard. "Bad date, fräulein?"

Ema shot him a dull look, the very person she'd been defending only about an hour ago. She recalled how ridiculously aggravating he could be, but she also knew she had done the right thing. He was a good guy and a good prosecutor who worked more than almost anyone she knew. Him being a fop didn't change any of that.

Breathing out in frustration, she turned back to her tablet. "You have no idea."


	4. How to Make Your Case

**Author's Note:** Thanks again for the feedback! Next update might take a little bit longer as I'll be out of town for awhile, although it's not like I update very quickly anyway... Anyway, lots of Klavier this chapter. Read on!

* * *

 _ **Titration**_ by HawkofNavarre

 **Chapter 4**

 ** _How to Make Your Case_**

* * *

Ema wouldn't have ever thought that her years being stuck as a detective would've been useful for her future, but now that she was certified as a forensics investigator, she was glad she had accepted the promotion. She had always known that she was going to work in law enforcement, hence why she had joined the police academy after failing the forensics exam for the first time. If she couldn't be the one examining evidence at the crime scene, she at least wanted to be near it. Then it was her intelligence that got her promoted to a detective within the next few years and instead of guarding the crime scene, she was actually knee-deep in it. That was supposed to be better until she realized how close she actually was to the evidence, yet couldn't perform any scientific tests on them. It was like having candy in your hands and not getting to eat it. The bitterness chipped away at her happiness slowly, worsening with every letter she received that started with "We regret to inform you..."

It was only now that she really appreciated having moved up to detective. If she hadn't pursued it, she would've been stuck in the lab, only occasionally out in the field to process evidence, and would never really get the full picture of the case. Now, with the experience of a detective and the expertise of a forensic investigator, she was an especially valuable asset to the precinct and prosecutors looked forward to working with her. She was able to do all the investigating she liked to put the case together.

Of course, all that also meant having late nights trying to puzzle out what happened in more difficult cases. She had to give the prosecutor the right suspect to prosecute. It did her little good that Dayton was on her forensics team under Gavin. Even after their disastrous last date, he _still_ wanted to date her, despite him now leaving her alone every time she said "no" as per their prior agreement. She was holding firm this time. She had given him the real chance he'd wanted and now they were done.

And that was the other problem. Ema couldn't stand seeing Dayton speak so respectfully to Klavier when she knew he thought so poorly of the prosecutor. At least _she_ had been open about her dislike for him from the beginning. Klavier had always been aware of how she felt, yet they still managed to work together to close cases. She hated seeing someone being so blatantly two-faced towards him.

She exhaled in frustration, trying to not let it get to her. It wasn't like she actually _liked_ Gavin that much, but he was a decent guy and he'd been through enough over the past couple of years. Besides, now wasn't the time to be dwelling on her coworker's crappy personality. He'd gone home for the day (thank god) and it was her job to keep hammering away on this case until all the pieces made sense.

It'd been a couple of days, but she was still trying to verify statements. Obviously nobody admitted to being the killer, but the building had several tenants who were single and living alone, so basically none of them had an alibi for the time of death. Suicide had already been ruled out by the medical examiner who had reported blunt force trauma to the head prior to the fall. But then they also couldn't rule out an accidental fall if the man was disoriented by the time he'd reached the fire escape.

"You're here late, Fräulein Detective," Gavin's voice chimed in from behind her. She glanced towards him briefly, away from the smart board she was staring at with multiple faces of suspects they had pulled up.

"Well, this case isn't going to solve itself," she retorted, unimpressed by his sudden appearance. If there was anyone she saw way too often, it was definitely him. "And what are you doing here?"

"Had to drop off some files from our last case," he explained as she turned back to the board, Klavier hovering behind her. "So this is our suspect pool, ja? Narrowed it down yet?"

She hummed lightly in thought. "Not exactly, but I think it's natural to suspect the ones who live right next to the fire escape considering they should've heard something. The M.E. is still trying to figure out exactly how high he fell from to narrow down which landing he went over, and it doesn't help that basically none of these residents have an alibi," she explained.

"Then we eliminate potential suspects another way," Klavier suggested. "I was reviewing the autopsy report earlier. Cause of death was from the fall, but he sustained a head injury before that, ja?"

"Yeah," she confirmed. Ema's brow furrowed in concentration as she walked around her desk to retrieve said autopsy report, flipping it open to read it again. "The blow was to the base of the skull at the back of the head."

The prosecutor snapped his fingers rhythmically. "And therefore, he was attacked from behind by someone a ways shorter than him, likely a female. Mr. Fehl wasn't a particularly tall man."

"No, he wasn't," Ema agreed, her nose still in the file. "He was only five foot eight. I think you're right." She rushed around to grab her tablet, letting the little computer work its magic at her command. "Scientifically speaking, someone taller or the same height would never be able to project an upward force to his head in the same way. You'd have to be at least four or five inches shorter...meaning our suspect list just shrunk down to three people if we're right."

Ema stared at the faces on her screen: two women and one man. Any one of them could have committed the crime as they all rented apartments that led directly to the fire escape on that side of the building, and they all had a motive regardless of their statements to the police. Garrett Fehl had a history of petty theft and he had been in that building trying to take _something._

 _But what...?_ she wondered to herself silently. Even more frustratingly, she probably wouldn't be able to solve this case without searching all three apartments for the object he'd been hit with.

"You think you can get me a warrant to search those apartments?" she asked Klavier, dissatisfied with her inability to solve this case right now.

He looked offended that she'd even asked. "Of course I can. Do you doubt me, fräulein?"

"I doubt a lot of things when it comes to you. Like the idea that you have a good sense of fashion," the forensic investigator retorted sharply. She walked over to the digital board and moved the newest suspects to the middle of the screen, looking more closely at their alibis.

Klavier leaned back against her desk, folding his arms as he contemplated the case next to her. "But you accepted my horrible fashion sense, didn't you? You _did_ wear my jacket last night," he reminded her.

"It was cold. I'm not crazy enough to just hang around outside in a dress if I don't have to. I would've much rather had my lab coat," she informed him, snickering. "Well, I think that's it. I can't do anything else without a warrant."

"Yes you can," the prosecutor replied as his brow furrowed in concentration. "You can because we might be able to figure this out without finding the object he was struck with. We may be looking from the wrong angle."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Enlighten me, Gavin."

"The victim, we know, landed on his back, meaning he went over the railing backwards," Klavier explained thoughtfully. "Now, we assume he was pushed because of this fact, but if his murderer had already disoriented him, why would they push him off the side of a building? A disoriented man is easy to fight with. Our suspect would be able to take back what was stolen with ease— _without_ killing a man."

"You think it was an accident," Ema realized, seeing her boss's angle. His logic made a lot of sense. It'd been a long time since she'd last worked on a case this closely with him, considering he didn't do a lot of investigation. It felt a bit different from his usual style of work, which was just doing the prosecuting part of his job and running with it. Then again, it made her curious since he had really dropped off the music scene to pursue law more seriously.

Instead of rummaging through the paper file, Klavier stepped forward and pulled up a digital version of the autopsy. He immediately magnified a statement on the first page. "You see, I've been wondering about this particular comment by the M.E. He died when his head hit the pavement, but he also fractured both his scapulae, and he had 'more than expected' bruising on his back."

She immediately knew what he was referring to, but it was always much more likely when someone fell from a height that the person was pushed. Of course she entertained the possibility first. But it was also true that the injuries sustained by the victim weren't entirely consistent with someone who had just fallen.

"With those injuries, doesn't it almost seem like there was something heavy that fell on top of him?" Ema asked. "It's not easy to fracture the scapulae. But it couldn't be what he stole either. The police came only a few minutes after it happened. Nobody would have had time to haul something that heavy away from the crime scene."

"Nein... I don't think so either..." Klavier agreed, settling back against the table again. Only a second later, he stood up straight abruptly. "Achtung! Unless the object itself moved away!"

Ema was unimpressed by his excited discovery. "Gavin, evidence doesn't just up and walk away on its own."

"No, but humans do," he explained. "This was a disoriented man who clearly stole _something_ if someone was chasing after him. He stumbles away from the scene after he is hit on the back of the head, trying to leave down the fire escape. His assailant gives chase, probably still with the same weapon used earlier. He knows he will be caught by his pursuer, so how does he retaliate?"

"The best defence is an offence," she offered in return. It was then that she caught on to what he was getting at. This was all circumstantial and she couldn't believe he was even suggesting this. "You can't really be..."

"Why don't we test it and find out?" he offered as he stepped away from her. "We're both a little taller than the victim and suspects, but the size ratio matches up well enough. We will use your desk as the railing and the board as the window."

She bit her lip. It seemed like such a crazy idea to entertain, but she'd been through enough trials to know that people could die in extremely convoluted ways...especially when a Wright Anything Agency lawyer was on the case. They always seemed to open up new possibilities. Here Klavier was now doing the same for her _before_ they went to court. As a detective, she had to see it through. After all, she'd just gone on a date with Dayton after he appealed to her inner scientist.

"Alright, let's do it. But we're doing it to _my_ standard," Ema replied firmly, stealing a glance at the clock. It was too late to be arguing with Gavin anyway, getting close to midnight. "That means you're playing the victim without going easy on me. You'd better not half-ass this."

"I wouldn't dream of it, fräulein! We do need a real response out of you—and that means not the response of a law enforcement officer," he quipped back as he began to remove his jacket and stretch out his arms. "You can emulate a female, right, Fräulein Detective?"

At that, Ema strode purposefully over to her desk drawer, retrieving a handful of Snackoos and throwing them at his face.

"Ach! I was just joking, Ema!"

A minute later, they were in their positions, Ema having cleared up her desk a bit just in case Klavier happened to crash into it. She stood on the left side of the board with the prosecutor next to her. He had even removed his stupid giant neck chain in order to get this done, which was to Ema's satisfaction.

He had one hand holding the back of his head as he dramatically stumbled forward. "Ach! I have been stricken!"

She snickered at his foolish acting. "I said not to half-ass it, Gavin, not to pretend you're in some poorly written German soap opera. Who _says_ they've been hit after being hit when there's nobody to say it to?"

He sent her a sort of lazy challenging look. "Would you like me to repeat it until it is to your liking?"

"No. We'll just not act like idiots," Ema said, smirking. She raised the ruler up in her grasp, the stand-in weapon for now, and walked forward after him. "Okay, so I follow you because you're still conscious and have something that belongs to me."

Klavier nodded, posing himself alongside her desk. "Right. Now if I'm trying to leave down the fire escape and you push me off, I fall sideways, so that doesn't work," he deduced in concentration. He turned to her, staring at the foot long ruler in her hand. "Charging you would make no sense if I can clearly see you wielding the same weapon you injured me with earlier. I'm disoriented, but I'm also an experienced thief. I have a good sense of self-preservation. How do I end up on the ground as I do?"

The prosecutor looked between her and the desk for a few long seconds, then raised his hand for her to back up. He took a step to the side, in front of the board and out of her line of vision.

"Come out like you're looking for me," he called to her.

Again, she brought her ruler up as she stepped forward, not seeing Klavier at all.

"Don't think like a cop."

She barely heard the words when she was suddenly swept to the side, strong arms around her. Taking a moment, Ema forced herself to acknowledge the warning her boss had offered her just before he fake-attacked her and resisted the immediate urge to stomp on his foot. Right now, she was just a girl with no self-defense training, trying to get away from this thief.

She had dropped her ruler in the surprise of his attack and she couldn't move her arms with the tight hold he had on her. She grasped at his arms and Ema grunted, pushing back against him. His footing gave as they struggled. She was facing the board now, trying to get loose. In the mindset of a desperate young woman, she continued with the only thing that seemed to be yielding results and pushed hard back against him again.

They traveled backwards, gaining momentum until his legs hit the table and Klavier toppled over, falling back onto her desk with Ema on top of him. She could feel his chest rising and falling against her back, his breath tickling her neck. His hold her had loosened and she'd automatically grabbed onto his forearms so as to not lose her balance. Her heart was pounding from the effort—the _effort,_ not the awareness of Klavier's solid form beneath her or the feeling of his arms around her waist.

"Ach, I think I just fractured my shoulder blades," he chuckled from behind her and Ema forced the heat— _just heat_ because there was no way she was blushing—off her face. "I'd say the possibility exists now, wouldn't you?"

Klavier sat up, basically holding her in his lap until he steadied both of them. When her feet hit the ground, she shook her head, trying to snap herself back into concentrating on the case at hand. She immediately approached the board, partially to pull up the suspect list and partially to move as far away from Gavin as she possibly could, even wheeling the screen back a little further.

"Right, yeah, okay, very possible," she agreed, attempting to keep her voice from shaking. "We can assume his killer fell with him and ended up surviving since Fehl broke their fall, but we still have no idea who it was."

Ema felt Klavier's chest press against her shoulder as he reached over her to press on the crime scene photo and she skittishly moved out of his way. God, did he seriously have no sense of personal space?

Stepping over to occupy the space she'd just vacated, Klavier zoomed in on the photo. "There was one other thing that bothered me," he explained, completely oblivious to all the discomfort he was causing her. He moved the visual over to their victim's hand. "He is wearing dark gloves like a good thief does, but what is that extra bulk he has around his fifth finger?"

Her mouth dropped open in disbelief. She couldn't _believe_ she had missed something so obvious. A thief would never wear jewellery to rob a place, but hiding it underneath clothes was a quick way to stash it. Suddenly, she was very angry at herself for not realizing that earlier, even after running his prints and finding his criminal record. "So _that's_ what he stole."

He pulled up a photo of the victim's body during processing in the medical examiner's office. The gloves were off in this image and the ring around Garret's pinky was visible. "And it looks like our suspect couldn't remove it before the police arrived. Look how tightly it's fitting around his finger," Klavier added, his voice smug.

"Still not as tight as your shirt," she snarked back, unamused by his arrogance. Just because he'd helped her with the case...jeez.

Klavier grinned, leaning over in that flirty way he always did. "I'm glad you're paying such close attention to me, Fräulein Detective." He didn't let her respond as he spun and flicked a hand of farewell at her. "Run the prints off that ring and we'll have our perp. Get me that tonight and I will have your warrant in the morning."

She stood there, dumbfounded, watching his retreating back as he called a "goodnight!" back at her. A moment later, Ema let out a growl of frustration. She'd let him get in the last word _again._

Fuming, Ema looked back at the board to locate where they'd stored that damn ring. Dusting the thing with fingerprint powder was the only way she was going to get her mind off this entire damn night.

* * *

Klavier made good on his word. The warrant was ready as soon as she walked into the office that day and she was basically out the door again in a few minutes. She had a team of officers with her to help search the apartment and they stormed the place, finding the evidence they were looking for almost immediately. It was classic; the girl had a child's baseball bat in her closet which matched the weapon the victim had been bludgeoned with, there was a picture of the woman's late husband wearing the ring that was found on the victim's hand, and the young woman had basically spilled her guts the moment an officer started to process the baseball bat. Things had more or less gone down the way she and Klavier had deduced, but Ema still needed to get the girl back to the precinct to get an actual full statement.

The forensic investigator was tired. She hadn't slept well last night _at all,_ if an accumulated one hour of shut-eye over restless tossing and turning could even be labeled as sleep. Seeing Klavier's vulnerabilities a few weeks ago had humanized him, but yesterday, she had been forced to acknowledge that he was a human _man_. It was starting to sound stupider and stupider every time she thought about it, but hell if it wasn't true. The last time she'd really had a boyfriend was in college. They had dated for two years and Ema had been in love...until she hadn't been after she'd realized that he simply couldn't tolerate her love of science.

Still, that didn't take away from the relationship they'd shared in both the emotional and physical capacity. After that relationship had ended, she'd resolved to solely work towards her dream; she didn't need a man holding her back. But she'd foolishly agreed to work out the crime yesterday, and it had reminded her of all the things she used to feel in her boyfriend's arms: love, wanted, and cared for...

It seriously put her over the edge.

How could she be working on a crime and have wound up, of all things, thinking about how it felt to be in Klavier's arms? She didn't mind working with him as a prosecutor as much anymore, but to know that he was having a physical effect on her in some capacity irritated her to no end. Then again, if it hadn't been Klavier, she was almost certain it would have been someone else. Ema did just fine without a significant other and was nowhere near interested in finding one unless a younger version of the Chief Prosecutor somehow walked into her life, but there were definitely things she missed about having one. The easy, playful conversations, the comfortable embrace after a hard day, and confidant who could just listen...they were things she could live without, though life would be a bit better with them present. It was a different feeling from what Lana could offer, especially since her sister had a family of her own.

For the first time in years, Ema was actually craving the distraction paperwork would provide.

"Fräulein Detective!"

 _I just can't catch a break, can I?_ she thought to herself in exhaustion. She whirled around to meet her boss's eyes as her fellow officers guided their perp to a squad car. "What are you doing here, Gavin?" Ema winced as she heard the shriek of teenage girls coming from the sidewalk. The girls always went where he did.

"I came to see the fruits of my labour, ja? I see you put that warrant to good use," he replied cheerfully. "Were we correct?"

Ema nodded. She wasn't going to get rid of him any faster if she was resisting his inquiries. "Basically. We found a kid's baseball bat in her closet. It matches the victim's wound perfectly. She told us it was her late husband's bat from childhood. He passed away a few months ago, so when she saw our victim stealing his ring from her mantel, she hit him and followed him out onto the fire escape."

She leaned to the side to look around him abruptly, squinting at the familiar presence standing outside the tape with the rest of the fangirls. It was that brunette who had been standing in the hall at the concert a couple of weeks ago. She wasn't screaming like the rest of the females (and some males, actually), but she was staring rather intently at Gavin.

"Fräulein Detective? Hello?"

Honestly, that woman must have a real hard-on for Gavin if she was pining for him near his dressing room _and_ at crime scenes. It wasn't super uncommon, really, for teenage girls with too much time of their hands, but the celebrity stalking had lessened a bit after Klavier had stopped touring with the Gavinners. Apparently he still had some hardcore fans.

"Miss Skye? You were saying...?"

Wow, though. If Ema thought back really hard, she vaguely recalled seeing this lady on the day this case had started too. Klavier hadn't stayed too long at the crime scene either. This was one dedicated lady...

" _Ema!_ "

She stood up straight, startled. "Huh?"

On his pretty face, there was an irritated frown. "You were in the middle of explaining what took place?"

"Um, yeah, I was," she replied, dumbfounded. She'd embarrassingly gotten caught drifting off into her own thoughts and she composed herself as much as she could. That definitely hadn't been the type of distraction she'd been seeking.

Quickly, she mumbled through the rest of the details, wanting to get out of here as soon as possible. She wanted to be anywhere _but_ near Klavier Gavin with the old emotions he'd stirred up within her unintentionally, and now it was worse because she'd actually managed to annoy him. Ugh, and just when she'd thought things were getting better with him...

"Well, I suppose I will head back to the Prosecutor's Office and get the case ready. It will be nice to have an easy day of work after so many complicated cases over the last year," he commented with a sigh of relief. She almost wanted to remind him that he was given a lot of their tougher cases since the prosecution office was full of incompetents like Winston Payne or people still trying to find their footing like Sebastian Debeste, but she hardly wanted to risk saying anything else to remind him of the unfriendly relationship they used to share. She was pretty sure he thought she'd just been ignoring him.

He surprised her instead. "I enjoyed puzzling out the case with you last night, Miss Skye," he told her, with a real, genuine smile that wasn't meant to seduce her or anything.

"I—I... Me too," she stuttered out quickly, stunned by his words. Ema looked at the ground, feeling awkward by the sudden change in atmosphere. "I guess we make an alright team..." God, she wished she had some Snackoos.

"The next concert is in a week. I will see you there, ja?" Klavier asked, evidently oblivious to how uncomfortable she was feeling.

" _Ja—_ I mean, yeah!" she sputtered as her face burned. Where the _hell_ were those Snackoos?

He chuckled at her skittishness and stalked off, leaving Ema alone to fume once more. Even when he wasn't intentionally trying to annoy her, he still managed to make her feel _off_ somehow. And then it made her angry at how utterly stupid she was acting.

Did it have to be this hard? At this point, they were almost friends, right? Things shouldn't be this difficult. But the more she thought about his attractive face, his playful demeanor, and warm embrace, the angrier she felt.

Ema turned with a huff, heading back towards the squad car. He was still just a glimmerous fop after all.


	5. Time Well Spent

**Author's Note:** Greetings! I managed to get this chapter up before I leave for my trip and the next update will depend on how much I end up writing while I travel. Thanks to everyone for sticking with me!

* * *

 _ **Titration**_ by HawkofNavarre

 **Chapter 5**

 _ **Time Well Spent**_

* * *

" _...was found guilty of second degree murder today. DNA evidence was found in the young male's locker which he was renting at the bus stop at..._ "

Ema was changing as she listened to the news, pulling on her vest next and grabbing her lab coat. They were currently covering a story about one of the murders she and Klavier had solved recently, with the trial only proceeding yesterday. Of course it had been a guilty verdict with the damning decisive evidence they'd found. That had been happening a lot recently, especially with the extra effort Klavier was putting into help with the investigations as well, despite disliking them. With both of them being workaholics, it often concluded with nights of working late with each other. It was something she never thought she'd do without someone dragging her kicking and screaming into. Instead, she was surprisingly alright with working with him now and certainly preferred puzzling out cases with her prosecutor as compared to the coworker who continued to pursue her romantically.

Dayton's presence was starting to become unbearable. He made every effort possible to work with her. Ema was through with giving him second chances. She'd seen the date through "for science" and she simply didn't like him. Their perspectives clashed time and time again, which was definitely not something she was looking for in a relationship. What bothered her even more was how much he disrespected their boss, which was hilariously hypocritical coming from her, but he had proven to her over and over again that his work _did_ deserve respect. To her own eyes, she felt he did too—at least, when he wasn't acting like an ass. Of course, she would never tell him that. If Klavier ever found out that she had basically made a scene on her date with Dayton for his opinion, that smug expression he wore whenever he knew he'd gotten under her skin would be permanently plastered on his face.

And then, of course, she was still dealing with her revelation that Klavier was actually a _guy_ because she had idiotically chosen to recreate a crime scenario with him. Acknowledging that being pressed up again him felt nice was nearly impossible to swallow. Spending more time with him didn't make anything any easier to process, and yet there he was every day. Work, Klavier, work, Klavier, and work, Klavier.

Ema sighed. With that thought, it was about time to head off to work again...for Klavier. Ugh. This would be his third concert over three months, halfway through his overall schedule, meaning she still had three more nights where she would see his face outside of her usual police work. For now, she had to deal with this one.

It wasn't all that bad, she supposed. With all those cases they'd been closing, she felt like she and Klavier were getting along with each other the best they ever had. Even the volume of her snacking had reduced. She wasn't stressed out, she got paid double, and talking to Gavin was relatively easy if she didn't take his flirtations seriously. She honestly didn't mind it all too much, even when he annoyingly got in the last word.

Of course, when she thought about the letter sitting on her coffee table right now, the whole night didn't seem so bad at all.

The detective glanced briefly at her watch, switching the TV off. She shoved the letter out of her mind. It was time to go. Securing her firearm in her holster, she flew out the door.

* * *

It was slow night, which was exactly what Ema had been hoping for. Things were far easier to keep an eye on with these much smaller concerts and only a couple hundred people coming in. Then again, it also made the night a little more boring. When her primary job was to keep everyone organized and keep an eye on her boss, things got old pretty quickly. Coincidentally, her earpiece buzzed to life as soon as that thought hit her.

"Miss Skye? I have three guests here with backstage passes," one of the officers relayed to her.

Ema considered this. Klavier hadn't told her he'd given away any backstage passes, but it would be best to check these people out anyway. She didn't want them to cause a scene if they didn't take rejection well.

"Hold them there," she ordered, hastily making her way down the hall.

To her surprise, the three faces that came into sight were familiar to her as well. Standing in front of the officer she'd stationed there was Phoenix Wright, his daughter Trucy, and his protégé Athena Cykes. All of them were dressed more casually for the occasion, even Trucy out of her magician outfit for once.

"Mr. Wright!" she exclaimed, rushing forward to meet the group. "I didn't know you guys were coming today!"

Phoenix smiled. "Well, Trucy is a big fan and Prosecutor Gavin invited us to come whenever we wanted."

"Today was the best night since I don't have a show coming up for another few weeks myself," his daughter supplied as she cheerfully rocked from her heels to her toes. "You and Mr. Gavin are welcome to come watch me too!"

"Just please don't make me be your assistant again," Athena groaned from the side.

Ema ushered them through and was about to escort them to Gavin's dressing room when she spotted that familiar brunette leering at them a ways down the hall. This woman was showing up to practically _every_ place Klavier was going and Ema was starting to get concerned that she might actually be a stalker. It certainly wouldn't be the first time a fan got out of hand.

"Make sure she doesn't come through," she told her subordinate, eyeing the lurking lady one last time before she headed back to Mr. Wright's entourage.

Of course, nothing could escape Trucy's watchful eyes. "Prosecutor Gavin sure is popular! We're lucky we can talk to him whenever we want!"

"He's just a normal guy. Maybe a flashier one, but a normal guy nonetheless. It's not like anyone should break down doors and knock out guards just to get to him," Ema sighed as she led them down the hall.

Phoenix chuckled. "As disillusioned with Prosecutor Gavin's charm as ever, aren't you, Ema?"

She felt her cheeks burn. She certainly had no problem with his charms, but she wasn't faring well with the revelation that she could possibly be attracted to him. Why couldn't he have to just stayed an alien in her perspective? No, of course he had to go be an especially responsible prosecutor now that he wasn't being a giant, nerdy rock star every night.

"Well, there's more to life than good looks and fancy words," she answered instead, feeling like that was good enough justification for her snark.

"I like his music too," Athena said a little defensively. "Plus, watching Mr. Gavin in court is like a show in itself. You can't help but root for him."

"Athena, we were up against him in court a few weeks ago when he was trying to jail our client," Phoenix reminded her.

"Yeah, and we won, Boss, which is super great! That doesn't mean I wanted to watch him lose!"

Ema let out a soft laugh. It was true that Klavier did a good job as a prosecutor. Law students and fans flooded into the courthouse whenever it got out that Klavier was prosecuting a case, and then when it got out that the legendary defence attorney Phoenix Wright was the lawyer on the other side, the courthouse got _really_ crazy. That last trial had been such absolute chaos it was a wonder anything had gotten done.

They reached the door of the musician's dressing room and she knocked a couple times before opening the door. "Prosecutor Gavin? I've got some guests."

He had been at the keyboard in the corner of the room, which Ema could only assume meant that he had been in the midst of doing his vocal warm up. He rose immediately, beaming at the group that entered the room. "Ah, Fräulein Cykes and Fräulein Wright! I am glad to see you both!" he greeted them eagerly as both young girls skipped up to him. He turned to face Phoenix and extended a hand with an amicable smile. "Herr Wright, good to see you again."

The older attorney firmly shook the hand offered. "You as well, Prosecutor Gavin."

As the two dropped the formalities, Ema couldn't help but crack a small smile. Mr. Wright and Klavier hadn't crossed paths too often since the former's disbarment, but it was nice to see there were no hard feelings between the two. Mr. Wright didn't seem to hold any resentment toward Klavier for the role he'd played in essentially ruining his reputation and getting him disbarred and Klavier didn't seem to begrudge Mr. Wright for trying to prove his brother was a criminal for seven years.

Trucy was animatedly talking about her magic show while Klavier listened intently with Athena occasionally chirping, "I helped!" Mr. Wright stood next to Ema a few feet back, looking fondly at his daughter.

"You know, I'm glad you and Prosecutor Gavin can get along even after everything that's happened," she commented as they watched the other three start snapping pictures together on Trucy's phone.

"Haha, come on, Ema. Give me a little credit! I'm closer to 40 now than I am to 30, and Prosecutor Gavin was hardly a legal adult at the time of that trial. Honestly, I shouldn't have let my guard down just because he was a rookie," Phoenix replied, leaning back against the wall. He looked cheerful despite the grim topic they were discussing. "It's all in the past. Prosecutor Gavin was just doing his job. He's always been a good person."

She grinned cheekily at the attorney. "Why, Mr. Wright, did you become a fan?"

"Ema, his first single was two minutes and fifteen seconds. It was a total rip-off."

"Touché."

"On the other hand, you seem to be getting along better with Prosecutor Gavin. I didn't expect to see you here," he remarked in observation.

" _I_ didn't expect to see myself here," Ema agreed, "but I guess we've gained some respect for each other over the past couple of years."

"Well-deserved on your part. You're a good detective, Ema," Phoenix complimented her and she could feel herself warm at the praise.

"Thanks, Mr. Wright, but you still rip my testimonies apart on the stand all the time, regardless of how good I am," she replied modestly.

It was then that Ema heard Klavier's manager in her ear, telling her that the show was starting in a couple of minutes. Murmuring back a response, she stepped forward to grab the group's attention.

"Sorry to break up the party, guys, but Prosecutor Gavin needs to be on stage soon," she told them, much to the chagrin of the two girls who probably now had more photos of Klavier than they knew what to do with. "I'll walk you guys to your seats. Gavin, Officer Eskhort is going to walk you to the stage."

Klavier thanked her and headed to the vanity to primp, the group relaying their excitement to see him on the stage. Ema opened the door to lead them out, passing Officer Eskhort in the hall.

"It's so nice to see Mr. Gavin outside of the courtroom!" Trucy exclaimed, bouncing down the corridor beside her.

"That's my life story," Ema drawled tiredly. "We have another trial coming up in a couple of days that I really need to work on tomorrow, which means seeing him yet again."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Athena said in comfort, Widget piping up with a "You sound kinda glad!"

"Glad?" she echoed in confusion.

"Widget doesn't know how to shut his mouth," Athena grumbled in irritation. Quickly, she tried to explain herself. "What he means is...you definitely _sound_ grumpy about having to work with Mr. Gavin again, but I can also hear a touch of happiness in your voice as well."

"Well, it's probably doing the science that I'm happy about," Ema replied, nodding. In truth, she was thrown off by the statement. She had seen Athena's use of emotion and psychology in court many times, but it had never been used on her before. Maybe she didn't mind working with Gavin so much anymore, but that didn't mean she was happy about it. She wasn't really sure what to make of the assertion.

"Probably," the young attorney agreed, but didn't seem convinced.

She felt eyes on her and turned to see Phoenix shooting her a knowing glance. Embarrassed, she returned her gaze forward and continued marching back to the entrance of the theater hall. She couldn't fathom exactly what he "knew" or what Athena was picking up on, but she had the distinct impression that she didn't want to know.

"By the way, Ema," Trucy started just before they entered the theater, "did you manage to get that guy on your forensics team to stop bothering you yet?"

She cracked a weary grin. "Not quite. It's going to take something monumental to stop that guy. I'm almost tempted to go along with that plan you mentioned a while back."

"I've got some new ideas now, too! Let me know if you want to set him on fire!"

"Trucy, what did I say about combustion tricks?" Phoenix asked as he rubbed him temples. Clearly, his daughter's shenanigans were a common occurrence.

"Oh daddy, you don't have to worry! I'm a professional!"

They exchanged their goodbyes and parted ways, Ema heading backstage again to wait out the show. She couldn't help but entertain the thought of what would happen if she really _did_ let Trucy set Dayton on fire—of course, not for _real_ , but it would appear real enough. She knew it would probably do nothing to address their situation, but it definitely gave her something to laugh about.

* * *

It was already close to midnight when she entered Klavier's dressing room. She had spent some time with the Wright Anything Agency employees before they caught a taxi home. Seeing them under better circumstances had been nice considering she usually saw them only when working cases. Apollo, she often only saw when working with Prosecutor Sahdmadhi in Khura'in, and neither of them ever had any downtime to catch up. The last time she'd seen him was the time she'd been ranting to him and Trucy about Dayton, and since she hadn't been back to Khura'in for a while, she hadn't found time to speak to Apollo at all.

When she walked into the dressing room, Klavier was reading his phone intently. Ema saw his odd need to be around until his employees were done clean up rather pointless, especially when he just stayed in his room while everyone else was working away. Of course, when she got closer, she found that he was reading over the case files for their upcoming trial. She should've known—the guy was always doing some form of work, even if he didn't consider it as such.

"I liked your set list today," Ema told him as she snuck up beside him, leaning against the back of the sofa, "and by 'like,' I mean it didn't make me want to drown myself in styrene."

Without looking at her, Klavier clicked the button to put his phone to sleep and she could see him smirking. "Each time you offer me such words, my heart warms a little more, Miss Skye."

"The feeling isn't even a little bit mutual," she retorted dryly, but her words lacked the animosity that they used to have. The banter just seemed to be a part of their dynamic now and it _worked_. Well, besides the fact that he still had a way of getting under her skin and getting in the last word.

"Argin says the crew is just about done, so you're good to go," she told him, and Klavier got to his feet.

"Then I suppose it's time to call it a night. We have an early morning to prep for the case, ja?" he said, way too chipper about having to work in the morning than anyone should be.

"Unfortunately," she sighed, crossing her arms just before her stomach growled. Loudly.

Klavier blinked at her for a moment, then his face broke into a grin, unable to hold back his amusement. Ema's cheeks went red in turn. _Of course_ she had to embarrass herself in front of him. It just gave him more material to tease her with. If only she hadn't eaten all her Snackoos during the first half of the show... She never thought she'd say it, but she was extremely disappointed that there wasn't any music blaring through the speakers to cover up the sound of her stomach.

"Shut it, Gavin," Ema hissed, glaring at the stupidly entertained expression he was wearing on his face.

"I didn't say anything, fräulein," he replied, still looking awfully amused by what had occurred earlier. He threw on his sport coat and leaned over her—an action that she used to roll her eyes at, but now reminded her that he was an attractive male more than she cared to admit. "However, I am feeling rather famished myself, now that I think about it. Shall we get something to eat?"

Sulking and annoyed by his proximity, she pushed him back with her index finger. She fixed a firm look upon her face, trying to appear taller than she was in order to intimidate her superior. " _I_ am just going to pick up some food on the way home," Ema responded with emphasis.

Klavier took a couple steps back, chuckling. "Miss Skye, I know for a fact that you don't own a car. We can just go to a drive-through and I'll take you home. There's no need to be cute."

" _Cute?_ " she sputtered in outrage.

"The very definition of it!" he confirmed, smiling despite the wrath-filled woman in front of him. "Come on, just accept the food and ride home. It is not worth arguing over, ja?"

A moment of silence passed between the as she considered her options, ultimately deciding that refusing him really _would_ be more trouble than it was worth. By now, Klavier was well aware that her acceptance of his requests did not mean that he was allowed to flirt with her...not that deterred him in any way. The guy just didn't know how to turn off the charm. Ema was immune to it, and yet...

"Why do I always end up agreeing with you?" she groaned in concession, hating the self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"Miss Skye, please remember you are up against an international prosecutor. I am always thorough about my cases before I lay them out," he boasted, guiding her out the door by the small of her back.

Ema rolled her eyes, swatting his hand away, causing him to withdraw it with an innocent grin. Nevertheless, she followed him to his car in the parking lot and dismissed the remainder of the security staff, letting them know she was escorting him off the premises through her radio. Meanwhile, Klavier was firing off ideas of where to go and get food with Ema categorizing them methodically into lists of rejection and possibility.

As they got into Klavier's shiny black BMW, they finally agreed on grabbing some burgers since they were the only places opened at this hour with dedicated drive-throughs. Ema let out a breath of relaxation as she sank into the comfortable leather seats and let the seat warmer send to her paradise.

Klavier was chuckling at her delight as he drove out of the parkade. "If I'd known how taken you were by my car, I'd have offered you rides more often."

"I'll ride in anything that isn't your over-glorified bicycle," she said, snickering and eliciting a laugh from the prosecutor. In the moment, she was having this odd sense of clarity, knowing that she was actually enjoying her time spent next to her boss.

"Hey..." she started quietly, feeling a bit uncertain about what she was saying although she had delivered the same message to her old friend earlier. "You know...it's nice that you and Mr. Wright are on good terms now."

Klavier nodded but didn't turn his attention away from the road. "He is an honest lawyer, something I did not believe when I first started my career. We need more of those in this dark age," he responded, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the steering wheel. "Actually, Miss Skye, I've been meaning to ask you about that opening as Prosecutor Sahdmadhi's head detective."

Ema froze nervously. He _knew_ about that?

"He sent the request around the prosecutor's office in case we knew someone who would be interested if you turned down the job," he explained as if he had read her mind. "It's been a week, fräulein, and the posting is still open."

"That, it is..." Ema muttered, knowing exactly where this conversation was going. "So?"

"So I thought for certain you would accept the job. I don't think you would have stayed in Khura'in for as long as you did if you weren't fond of Herr Sahdmadhi," he stated nonchalantly. She couldn't get a read on him about this job offer at all and that frustrated her. There was this burning urge to know if Klavier would care about whether she stayed or went.

Of course, she wasn't so immature that she was going to hide the truth from him to try and see how he felt about it. "Prosecutor Sahdmadhi and I are good friends, but I've gotten everything I can out of a job that primarily consists of being in Khura'in. They're behind in technology and _I_ had to train a bunch of people there how to analyze evidence scientifically, so I doubt I'd learn anything more there about forensics," she informed him. "And frankly, Khura'in is not my home. The time difference sucks and I barely had time to talk with my sister while I was working there."

She neglected to tell him about Nahyuta Sahdmadhi's terribly longwinded and educational punishments on Khurainism that she had little interest in, but she really didn't want to make the prosecutor sound worse than he actually was. She really _had_ enjoyed working with him when she wasn't helping him build cases against her friends.

"In that case, can I assume that you're staying?" he asked.

Ema hesitated, knowing that if she gave her answer, she would have to flow through in her response to Prosecutor Sahdmadhi. She'd been putting it off, partly because she didn't want to disappoint her friend who truly appreciated her forensic talents and partly because turning it down would mean she was happy enough with where she was to want to stay. Obviously it wasn't all dependent on Klavier, but a lot of her job satisfaction _was._ Even if she was a forensic investigator now, if she still hated Klavier, she would be way less happy with her current situation. Going to Khura'in would offer her a way out and seem a lot more appealing if that were the case. Still, admitting that she was happy here felt like giving Klavier more power over her.

"Yeah," she said finally, seeing no point in putting off answering further, "I'm staying."

"I'm glad," Klavier told her warmly. "I was worried I might get assigned a new detective again. Working with your replacement was...difficult."

"Difficult? Who'd you have?" she asked curiously.

He let out a tortured sigh. "Herr Tunnel. He does his best, but..."

"He focuses only on one lead all the time," Ema finished for him.

"Ja. It was a good reminder never to undermine your investigation skills again. You are a very good detective, Ema," the prosecutor conceded, shamelessly admitting his past transgressions.

Her chest tightened a bit at the compliment. For some reason, this was affecting her differently than when Phoenix had essentially said the same thing. He was both praising her skill and addressing her personably and sincerely; she wasn't just another nameless face among detectives who could have been assigned to him anymore. For the first time, he really, truly used her name like it wasn't a tool.

"I know," was all she managed to say in return.

He pulled in to the drive-through and ordered some terribly unhealthy meals for the night. As she sipped on her drink, the remainder of the ride home was spent in comfortable silence. Ema's mind was drawn into thinking about her earlier conversation with Phoenix, because he wasn't the only one whose relationship with Klavier Gavin had changed.

They weren't judging each other anymore. They were just having normal conversations and listening to each other, connecting on a human level. She wanted to pull back, not give him the honest answer about how she felt about her job because that would be putting her happiness in his hands, but she found herself trusting him, just as he had trusted her to be the head of his security. It was a vast change from a year ago when they would exchange cutting remarks about each other regardless of where they were. Now, this almost felt like a friendship. They were constantly spending time together (even if it was for work), bantering with no real malice, and now she was getting a ride home from him.

She thought she would die before she ever thought that hanging out with Klavier Gavin was alright, but here she was thinking it.

He pulled the call over in front of her apartment building and she exited the vehicle with her bag of goodies in hand. It had been a long day and the introvert in her craved the solidarity of her empty room, topped off with a classic burger and soda to finish off the late night.

"Thanks for the food and the ride," Ema said as she readjusted the bags in her grasp to close the door.

"Good night, Miss Skye. I'll see you tomorrow," he replied with a smile.

"Yeah," she agreed, noting the lack of dread she was feeling about the upcoming work day. She shut the door and waved before he drove off.

Maybe Athena was onto something after all.


	6. Prosecutors Throw the Best Parties

**Author's Note:** I scrambled to get a chapter written because I got nothing done on my trip. That being said, I really want to just say that I love this chapter. I'm sorry if it's tangential. I was having too much fun-although trust me, it could have been much worse... It doesn't quite end up that way though, luckily. This is the one that really drives it home. Thanks for the continued support!

* * *

 **Titration** by HawkofNavarre

 **Chapter 6**

 _ **Prosecutors Throw the Best Parties**_

* * *

She was sitting at her desk at work, holding the envelope she'd found sitting atop of it this morning close to her chest. It was truly a piece of treasure, regardless of what anybody else thought. Never in her wildest dreams did she think something like this would happen to her. It had only been a fantasy out of her reach since she was 16 years old. But now...tomorrow night, she would do something that was even better than working a case with her idol.

In her hands, she held an invitation to Chief Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth's 36th birthday party.

Of course, she had taken great care when handling the envelope. Obviously Ema wore gloves whenever touching it. Earlier, she had dusted the envelope for prints as well to see if the chief prosecutor had indeed personally created her invitation. Unfortunately, she was highly disappointed to find that the only fingerprints on there belonged to an old cadet named Maggey Byrde. It became even more obvious that Edgeworth hadn't written his own invitations after she opened the envelope and compared the writing inside the card to past reports that had been written by the chief prosecutor. The writing in the card, while neat and aesthetically pleasing in its cursive glory, lacked the elegant dignity of Miles Edgeworth's handwriting. All the cards must have been done and sent out by this Maggey Byrde. Ema wondered what kind of good luck this woman had to be doing personal favours for the classiest lawyer in town.

"What are you holding there, Ema?"

Carefully, she placed the envelope back down on the surface of her table which she had covered with a plastic sheet to prevent any sort of contamination from touching the card. As long as nobody got any closer to her desk, the sheet would do its job. The entrance of her least favourite coworker was not helping.

"Dayton, we don't have a case so we don't have anything to discuss," she replied indignantly. Dayton was the last person she wanted to have snooping around her things. With how she was rejecting his advances, he had begun using anything possible to try to start a conversation with her. Yesterday, he'd attempted to talk about the new staplers the office had received and how they required more force to use than the old ones.

"I just want to know about your life," Dayton insisted as he leaned over the table and the detective quickly shoved him back by the shoulder.

"Yeah, and I say I _don't_ want you to," Ema growled, making sure to hold him at bay with the envelope safely in her left hand, as far away from him as possible.

"Herr Feller, Miss Skye! Always working hard together, are we?" Klavier greeted the both of them as he approached, dropping a large bag into Dayton's arms. "Apologies, Herr Feller, but this needs to be dropped off at the evidence locker and I need a moment of Miss Skye's time."

Dayton kept any anger he was feeling off his face, his eyes lingering on the prosecutor before nodding. He stalked off silently with his lab coat swishing behind him. Ema raised an eyebrow at her superior.

"Don't think I don't know what you just did," she warned him, smoothing the envelope back down onto her table.

"Achtung! The detective's tongue is sharp!" Klavier laughed as he leaned over her shoulder and examined her piece of treasure. Somehow, this bothered her a lot less than when her fellow forensic investigator did this. "Honestly, I just happened to be passing through, and I _did_ want a moment of your time. I see you have an invitation to Chefankläger Edgeworth's birthday party at the Gatewater Hotel tomorrow night."

She looked at him in disbelief. "Seriously, Gavin? Your 'moment of time' was necessary because you saw my invitation?" she asked in disapproval. She was grateful that she didn't have to deal with Dayton right now, but she didn't like the idea that she might possibly need _saving_. Ema Skye was no damsel in distress.

He shrugged, apparently not caring at all about what she thought of his actions. "Harassment is something I take seriously." Klavier slid onto the edge of her desk where she hadn't laid the plastic sheet. "Besides, I will also be a guest at Herr Edgeworth's party tomorrow. I'll be driving tomorrow, not taking my hog."

Ema raised an eyebrow. "Is this your way of asking me if I want a ride?"

"Do you?"

Her brows knitted in suspicion. She had accepted _one_ ride home from Klavier a couple of weeks ago after his concert. Things had settled down for her since her revelation that Klavier might _actually_ sort of be an attractive male, enough that it no longer made her blush when he accidentally brushed up against her—which was often, considering how many cases they'd stayed late working on lately. They spent nearly every day working together for several hours, whether it was solving cases or prepping for the next trial. There was a level of trust between them, but he was still flirtatious with the general female populace as ever and Ema wouldn't put it past him to use this as a ploy to flirt with her as well. He definitely still used lines on her, even with the knowledge that they wouldn't work.

"We are _not_ going to Mr. Edgeworth's party together," she answered cautiously.

Klavier sulked a little at her statement. "Honestly, fräulein, do you really think so lowly of me?"

The detective considered his inquiry for a short moment. If he'd asked her that six months ago, she would've automatically replied with the affirmative, but she now she knew more about him than she cared to admit. "...No, but you still flirt with every female in the vicinity," she shot back. "I know how you function, Gavin."

Looking slightly exasperated, he muttered something under his breath in German and hopped off her desk. "I'm offering you _a ride_ , Ema," he reiterated with emphasis, likely a bit insulted by her insinuation if the way he was pouting was any indication. The prosecutor moved his bangs out of his face. "How exactly do I function?"

She thought about how to answer that. Maybe talk about the 120 pound models hanging off his arm at regular intervals? But she thought better of it, realizing that she was falling back into old patterns of judging Klavier about things she wasn't fully aware of. She definitely saw a different model with him in magazines here and there, but it was pretty obvious that he didn't have a lot of time to date when he was working late with her so often. Ema couldn't even fathom how he could have possibly had _any_ free time back when he was with the Gavinners either.

"Sorry, that was uncalled for," Ema apologized after a second. "A ride would be appreciated."

The frown he was wearing disappeared quickly as his expression brightened. "Alright. I'll pick you up at your apartment tomorrow at six!" He turned to leave, but his hand lingered on her desk a second more. "By the way, Miss Skye, I applaud your effort at dodging the question."

Oh no he _didn't._ Ema glared at his back as he walked off to wherever, recognizing the familiarity of this situation. Klavier Gavin was _always_ getting in the last word. No way. Not this time. Especially not after the way he played off his hurt feelings by teasing her.

"You function _glimmerously!_ " she called after him with a huff, wishing that she hadn't apologized after all.

* * *

Despite her initial misgivings, Klavier didn't make any passes at her on the ride to the hotel. He did, however, continue making flirtatious comments, though no more than his usual. Ema was grateful that she hadn't let her first instinct spread to her mouth, especially now that they were starting to actually be friends. Even if he _did_ date a lot of women, she was certain that he always treated them with respect. There was no need to judge him for something she knew nothing about.

Instead, she focused on the gift she was bringing to the birthday celebration instead, really hoping that Mr. Edgeworth would like it. The invitation had said that gifts were not expected or necessary, but Ema didn't feel like she could show up empty-handed at a party for her idol. It was nothing huge; just a very clean-cut pair of silver cufflinks that were regal enough to match the chief prosecutor. She felt proud of herself for finding such a suitable gift for him on such short notice. Klavier, however, only pulled his guitar out of the trunk before they went inside.

"Are you singing for Mr. Edgeworth or something?" Ema asked as they walked toward the entrance.

Klavier simply winked. "You'll just have to wait and see."

A private room had been booked out in the Gatewater Hotel for the party where they found Detective Lieutenant Gumshoe greeting people as they entered. There was a short brunette with glasses standing beside him who Ema wasn't familiar with.

"Herr Gumshoe!" Klavier greeted eagerly. "It has been quite a while since we last worked together. Did you organize Herr Edgeworth's birthday celebration?"

Dick Gumshoe scratched back of his head. His face was clean-shaven and he was wearing a dark green button down that was tucked into a pair of belted black pants, but he still somehow managed to look slightly unkempt. "It's nice to see you, Mr. Gavin. Actually, my wife put together mostly everything. I can't even keep my shirts and socks separate."

"Ah, and this must be your lovely wife," Klavier said, turning his attention to the small female dwarfed by her husband. He picked up her hand to kiss it and Ema rolled her eyes at his archaic gesture as the recipient of his actions blushed accordingly. It seemed that even Mrs. Gumshoe wasn't immune to Klavier's charms. She exchanged her own greetings with her senior detective. At least this solved a mystery for her, with Mrs. Gumshoe being the spitting image of the former cadet Maggey Byrde.

"Make yourselves comfortable! There's plenty of food to go around," Maggey said as she eyed the small gift bag that Ema was carrying. "And I know the invitation said no gifts were necessary, but everyone ignored that anyway. The gift table is on the right side at the back of the room."

"I set up some speakers like you asked, Mr. Gavin," the older detective stated as he led them into the room, his wife hanging back.

" _Perfekt!_ Then let's get started right away!"

Ema separated from the group, heading towards the gift table at the back which was already stacked with presents. Some people hadn't even bothered to wrap their gifts, a huge basket filled with Steel Samurai merchandise with the tag "Love, Wendy" sitting there like the main event. She couldn't fathom how someone would even buy a juvenile gift like that for Miles Edgeworth. It only got weirder when she saw that one gift's wrapping paper had been torn by the item inside; more specifically, there was part of a plastic sword sticking out of the top.

...She had to be missing something here.

"Detective Skye! Hi!" Athena called out as she skipped up to her with Trucy in tow. Athena was in a lovely yellow spaghetti-strap dress while Trucy was blue and white diamond-patterned dress that still gave off the impression that she was a magician.

"Hey guys. Did you get Mr. Edgeworth a gift too?" she asked them.

"Daddy let Miss Fey choose the gift. He said she had the best taste when it came to Mr. Edgeworth," Trucy supplied, bouncing on her toes.

Maya Fey, the head of the Fey family and the master of the Kurain Village Channeling Technique, had a personality that was probably the exact opposite of Miles Edgeworth. From what Ema recalled of old cases, the woman was also rather obsessed with children's TV shows. _She_ had picked out the present? The more information she obtained, the odder things appeared to be. Suddenly, her cufflinks didn't feel like the right choice at all.

"I...haven't even seen Mr. Edgeworth yet to wish him a happy birthday. Do you guys know where he is?" she asked the two females, uncomfortably trying not to regret the present she'd bought as she added it to the pile.

"Oh, I think he's over there being harassed by that lady with the whip," Athena replied as she gestured towards the crowd of people in the middle of the room where the food table was.

Mr. Wright and Maya were standing there along with the infamous Larry Butz, who Ema seemed to find lurking around crime scenes so often that it was starting to become completely unbelievable that his presence could always be a coincidence. And, of course, the woman with the whip was renowned international prosecutor Franziska von Karma who had been working to put criminals behind bars since Ema had been in middle school. Along with those four, Edgeworth was being hounded by his self-proclaimed assistant from years back, Kay Faraday. She was now an expository freelance journalist who went after the biggest scoops with no fear of however powerful the corporations she was exposing were. She flew under the radar extremely well, but a groundbreaking piece from her would appear in newspapers every few months.

"We should go over there too!" Trucy suggested eagerly. "I want to meet all of Mr. Edgeworth's friends!"

The younger girl hooked her arms around Ema and Athena and began to pull them towards the crowd. Ema didn't resist, also wanting to greet the chief prosecutor and see what all the ruckus was about. Of course, she _was_ familiar with everyone else there and was a little more wary to be that close to Franziska when she had her whip in hand.

Trucy's grip loosened as they entered the swarm of people, chirping an introduction of herself to Kay. As Athena joined her, Ema made her way over to the birthday boy who was still speaking with his adopted sister. She made sure her snark mode was off from sitting in the car with Gavin before she spoke.

"Sorry to interrupt, Ms. von Karma. I just want to wish Mr. Edgeworth a happy birthday," she cut in politely, a wave of relief pouring over her when Franziska didn't seem annoyed by the intrusion. "Thanks for inviting me, Mr. Edgeworth."

"It's always a pleasure to see you, Miss Skye. Thank you for coming," he replied, always the picture of a gentleman.

"I see you don't _always_ favour incompetent detectives, little brother," Franziska remarked snidely, and Ema wasn't sure if she had just been insulted or complimented.

"And traveling internationally clearly hasn't improved your manners," Edgeworth shot back.

Suddenly, Larry threw his arm over the birthday boy's shoulder, beaming at Ema. "Heeeey, Edgey! You never introduced me to your gorgeous friend over here!" He waggled his eyebrows at her, something Ema assumed was supposed to be seductive. "'Sup, babe? You like artists?"

Edgeworth looked like he was about to dump his glass of wine on the man's head. "Larry, you _know_ Detective Skye."

It was obvious he was doing a double-take as his eyes widened in recognition and beads of sweat started to form on his forehead. "D-detective Skye...?"

She smirked. "Hello, Mr. Butz. I see you got home safely after our last encounter."

He sputtered for a moment and pulled himself off his childhood friend, straightening out. "S-say, can we just forget about that, detective? You sure clean up nice without that lab coat!"

The detective was rendered momentarily speechless by his thoughtlessness. This time, she _knew_ she'd been insulted, whether it was intentional or not. Evidently, Franziska seemed to have flown through the exact same thought process as her as the sound of leather striking the floor rang out.

"This foolhardy fool had better shut his foolish mouth before I shut it for him," the prosecutor hissed menacingly.

Larry's eyes sparkled with tears. "But Franzy, I thought we had something special!"

Glaring, Franziska stepped forward to make good on her threat as Edgeworth grabbed her around the waist to hold her back. Ema was stunned by how close Franziska really was to escaping Edgeworth's grip. That woman was truly as tough as she looked.

Larry was lucky when a loud "Achtung!" came over the speakers, effectively diffusing the entire situation. Klavier was standing on a small platform that looked like it was used during presentations when there were conferences at the hotel. He had his guitar strapped on with a single amp hooked up to it and Ema let herself bask in a brief moment of satisfaction at finding out she had been right.

"Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth, I know gifts were not necessary for tonight, but you have helped guide our legal system from a dark age into a brighter one. I think I speak for all of us when I say we are blessed to have you around. I hope you enjoy this short performance I prepared," Klavier spoke into the microphone, then backed up and began to pluck at his guitar strings.

For a second, the detective had no idea what he was playing. A few notes later, she realized he was playing a slow finger-picked version of the Steel Samurai theme song and her jaw dropped in utter disbelief. It wasn't that it didn't sound good, because it did, but what in the Law Goddess's name was Klavier _thinking_ when he decided to play the main song of an old children's cartoon for his _boss?_ She snuck a peek at Edgeworth to see his reaction to such a bizarre song choice and saw him with _a small smile_ despite his crossed arms, a finger tapping along to the rhythm.

Her jaw was not going to be picked up off the floor anytime soon. She _really_ had to be missing something here.

When the song ended, there was polite applause and some whooping from over where Maya was standing. Edgeworth's had reverted to its signature sobriety without a trace of his prior enjoyment showing and Ema wondered if the expression she had seen on his face earlier was something she'd just imagined. Gumshoe took over on the platform as Gavin started to put his guitar away.

"Hey pals, Mr. Edgeworth wants to thank you all for coming. Food's coming out now and there's plenty, so eat as much as you want. Happy birthday, Mr. Edgeworth, sir!"

There was an echo of "happy birthday" from the guests before everyone started to flock towards the food. Slowly, Ema followed suit. The night...was off to a weird start.

* * *

As dinner continued, the day got weirder. As if all the references to a children's cartoon weren't strange enough, some of the people at the party began to act wildly out of character...or in Athena's case, way too _in_ character. The girl was practically bouncing off walls, trying to get people to dance and unwittingly attacking innocent bystanders in the wake of her quest to find Apollo, who was still thousands of miles away in Khura'in. Ema was genuinely frightened of what would happen when the girl accidentally barreled into Franziska, but then the young prosecutor just burst into tears and buried her face in Edgeworth's cravat, hugging him tightly.

The reality of what occurred definitely scared Ema more than the predicted result. A vulnerable, sobbing Franziska von Karma just...didn't look right.

"What's going _on?_ Maya's out of control," Phoenix lamented, approaching them with his former assistant stumbling at his side.

"I'm not outta control, Nick. _You're_ outta control!" she claimed grumpily, her words slightly slurred. The spirit medium paused for a moment, her eyes narrowing as she got on her tiptoes to investigate Phoenix's face. "Were your eyebrows always bendy? I mean, bundy? Or...was I right the first time? Hehe, we should get som'ore burgers."

"Mr. Wright, doesn't Ms. Fey seem...kind of drunk to you?" Ema suggested hesitantly as she looked around the room as chaos unfolded. Trucy seemed to be having all kinds of fun convincing people to be the subject of her magic tricks while their inhibitions were lowered.

The lawyer tried to placate Maya as Edgeworth patted his own current issue on the back awkwardly, visibly uncomfortable. "She's right, Wright. Franziska is clearly inebriated. She would never behave in such a manner otherwise. I assume Ms. Fey is as well."

"Ema! _Du sollst mit mir singen!_ "

Before she knew what was happening, Klavier was leaning on her shoulder belting out lyrics in German like there was no tomorrow.

"Oh god, not you too," Ema groaned as she tried to push the prosecutor off her, but he just ended up stumbling back into her instead. Like he wasn't already obnoxious enough when he _wasn't_ drunk.

"How did Maya get drunk?" Phoenix demanded in annoyance, Maya still causing a ruckus (" _Niiiiick,_ stop ignoring my burgers! Ba-ba-ba- _burgers!_ "). "She didn't even have any wine! She's been drinking punch all night!"

"I wouldn't know! I could say the same of Franziska!" Edgeworth retorted.

"I have no idea what this guy was drinking," Ema added as she gestured to the serenading man using her as a crutch, "but I'm gonna go ahead and guess it was the punch too. Someone must have spiked it."

What happened next was one of those moments in life that Ema wished she could have filmed just because of how amazing it was. Just as she finished her sentence, both Edgeworth and Phoenix simultaneously turned towards the same exact spot in the room and shouted, "LARRY!"

Said man was halfway through eating a slice of pie when he perked up in attention and sauntered over with a stupid grin on his face. "Aw Edgey, Nick, are ya missin' me already?" the man asked as he took another bite of his dessert. He blinked, then glanced sequentially at the sobbing Franziska, hyperactive Maya, and expressively singing Klavier. "Wow, what happened to them?"

"You know exactly what happened to them!" Edgeworth shouted in full outrage, all the while patting his adopted sister on the back to try and separate soothing her from his anger.

"You spiked the punch, didn't you, Larry? That's why three quarters of the room is going nuts," Phoenix added accusingly. She didn't say anything else, seeing how incensed the two men were. Ema thought it was best that she let them deal with it. The point was elegantly made anyway when Athena, who had somehow recruited Kay to her cause, knocked over the entire gift table.

Larry frowned, putting his plate down on the adjacent table as the noisy collapse of the gifts went completely ignored by the immediate party. "Oh, I see how it is. Something goes wrong at Edgey's fancy party and you go right ahead and blame Larry! Then I have news for you! You accuse the multi-talented Laurice Deauxnim?" He raised a hand dramatically and pointed at Edgeworth. "Laurice accuses _you!_ "

He stood proudly in the pose that his two childhood friends used every day in the courtroom. There was a beat of silence as Edgeworth and Phoenix were stunned into submission. And then a silver flask fell with a clang out of Larry's jacket onto the floor.

The reaction was immediate. " _LARRY!_ "

"I JUST WANTED TO LIVEN UP THE PARTYYYY!"

Ema watched in amazement as the lawyers did their best to attack their troublesome friend with females hanging off them. She'd never seen Edgeworth that angry before and she really wanted to see where this "fight" was going, but Klavier's weight on her was starting to become a burden and she realized that the singing had come to a halt and he was starting to sag asleep against her.

"Wow, rock star can't handle his liquor," she commented in amusement. She tugged on his braid, causing him to blink himself awake. "Come on, glimmer boy, give me your car keys. I'll take you home—and no falling asleep until we get there."

He muttered a few things in German before pulling his keys out of his pocket and handing them to her without a fuss. Ema pulled him towards the exit and relayed to Gumshoe what had occurred. In full understanding, the senior detective told her he'd have Klavier's guitar delivered to his office over the weekend and they exchanged goodbyes.

"Sing," Ema demanded as they walked toward the parking lot. It was the easiest way to keep the guy awake and, admittedly, even drunk, Klavier could hold a pretty good tune. She was most certainly not going to let him fall asleep. The idea of trying to lug 170 pounds of deadweight into a condo if she couldn't wake him up was not the least bit appealing to her.

"What do I sing for you, Ema? You hate everything," he replied like a pouty child as Ema opened the passenger side door for him. He got inside, fumbling with the seatbelt like a true drunk person, eyes intensely focused.

"I don't hate _everything_ ," she defended before shutting the door and walking around to the driver's side to get in beside him. He made her sound like a negative person. "Sing The Guitar's Serenade, okay? I know you don't play it anymore, but I don't really care. Just stay awake."

Obediently, he began to sing with his eyes closed. Still, at least if something was coming out of his mouth, she'd know he was still awake. "Sugar...sugar..."

Satisfied with her handiwork, Ema focused on trying to get the car started. She was a little bit thrown off by the mechanics of his fancy car and took a few minutes trying to figure out how to use the GPS display. Luckily, he had "home" programmed into the GPS and it was easy enough to have the system find a path there. Ema inwardly congratulated herself for navigating through the intricacies of rich people gadgets. She'd only now noticed his dashboard had more glowing knobs and buttons than she had ever seen in a car before.

She drove as smoothly as she could having been away from the wheel herself for the last six months. It wasn't like she had access to a car regularly. Lana was able to lend hers if Ema really needed to get somewhere that couldn't be accessed through public transit, but otherwise, she walked or took a taxi wherever she needed to go. She was just grateful that Klavier didn't drive a standard; then she'd _really_ be lost.

It was a bit of a jerky ride, but Ema thought it was probably useful for keeping Klavier awake. After The Guitar's Serenade, he moved on to a slurred version of Atroquinine, My Love, followed by Love With No Chance of Parole, and Guilty Love. She realized that the worst part of it all was the fact that she could actually identify each one he was singing, like some sort of Gavinners fan. It kind of made her feel sick—well, it was either that or her own poor driving. Either way, she felt sort of queasy when she turned into the garage of his apartment building. She used her top-notch investigation skills to figure out which stall to park in, which meant she actually just looked at the sticker that denoted it on his windshield.

After a slightly crooked parking job, she got Klavier out of the car. Yelping, her knees buckled slightly as Klavier lost his balance and leaned against her with more of his weight than he had earlier.

The prosecutor chuckled as he steadied himself. "Apologies, Ema, but your driving is terrible and the car was already spinning."

"Yeah yeah, but you're alive, so who cares," she drawled, holding on to the arm he had around her shoulders and guiding him towards the garage elevator. She didn't even care that he had insulted her driving; he certainly wasn't wrong about it.

Klavier was present enough to press the button to the top floor and Ema narrowed her eyes. How predictable that the bachelor celebrity prosecutor would live in the penthouse suite of an expensive apartment building like this one? She had to tug on his braid again to keep him awake on the ride up to his place. Everything else was fairly straightforward with Klavier getting out his keys himself and managing to navigate to the door. Ema admired his condo as they walked through the entrance, a fairly large living room with a big flat screen TV and a full surround sound setup that led into the kitchen. The dark mahogany of the cabinetry contrasted the white quartz countertops, making the room look brighter, if the huge windows around the living room weren't enough. She eyed the large island in the middle of the kitchen jealously; she'd love to have a kitchen that big.

The penthouse had two bedrooms. Both were visible from the kitchen and it was clear which one Klavier slept in, considering that one of them was full of musical instruments and recording equipment. She dragged him into his own room and finally dropped him off at his bed. Klavier kicked off his boots and rolled onto the bed rather ungracefully.

"Thank you, fräulein. Not how I ever imagined bringing a woman to my room for the first time though," he laughed, words muffled by the pillow.

"Really? The first time?" Ema retorted dubiously as she kicked the garbage can over by the door to the side of the bed.

"I enjoy my privacy," the prosecutor replied somewhat defensively, then turned onto his back. "Ach, I'm drunk. How am I drunk?"

"Punch bowl was spiked," she answered. "You're just noticing you're drunk now?"

"I'm just thinking about it now," he said, eyes closed.

He looked like he was beginning to slumber and Ema made her way back into the kitchen to get him a glass of water. She had to look through a few cupboards to find where he stored his cups and filled it up using the water dispenser built into the refrigerator (because _of course_ he had a fancy refrigerator like that). By the time, she got back to the room, his jacket and chain belt was on the floor, all rings had been strewn upon the nightstand, and he was halfway under the covers, hugging a pillow. She smirked at his childish appearance; Klavier Gavin was always keeping up his professional persona in public, so it was refreshing to see him so unguarded.

She placed the glass of water down on the nightstand and moved to pull the covers fully over him. It was strange to think about how just a short time ago, she'd been marvelling over the fact that she had sort of become friends with Klavier. Now she was taking care of him like an actual friend? Well, if you could count bringing him home and giving him water as "taking care of him."

Ema shook his shoulder gently. She could never have imagined herself in this scenario a year ago, but oddly enough, she found herself in the realization that Klavier would probably have done the same for her if their places were switched. "Klavier, you have to drink some water before you sleep."

He made a soft noise of complaint before sitting up slightly as she took the cup from the table and handed it to him. He chugged the glass and settled back into his prior position. It looked like her work was done, so she grabbed the glass and was about to head back to the kitchen to refill the cup when Klavier spoke.

"...I miss Kristoph," he admitted, so quietly that Ema nearly missed it. "I know he is a murderer, yet I still miss him. Is that wrong?"

Ema bit her lip. If there wasn't enough evidence that Klavier was drunk before, there definitely was now. The topic was completely out of the blue and such a raw issue. Klavier still regarded Kristoph as his brother, but he never talked about their actual relationship. "No... No, I don't think that's wrong at all. No matter what he's done, he's still your brother," she answered despite her intense hatred for Kristoph Gavin. The man was a self-important egomaniac, but she understood sibling love more than anyone. It made her sick to think that Kristoph might have been faking his affection for his little brother all along.

"He was the only one I had. Friends...aren't the same. Sometimes I feel alone."

They were so similar in some aspects that sometimes she forgot because of the differences in their personalities. It was no secret that Klavier's mother had died when he was a baby and that his father had passed when he was in his early teens. Just like her, he had lost both of his parents and was left with only his older sibling to take care of him. Lana had become the parent figure in her life as well, but even though her sister loved her more than anything, Ema knew exactly how Klavier felt.

She put the glass back down where it was before and walked around the bed to the other side, kicking off her shoes. That same wave of solitude hit her just thinking about it and she didn't want to just let it be. "I do too," Ema conceded as she settled in beside him. "My sister...she basically raised me. She spent her whole life trying to do what was best for me and ended up in prison for it."

Ema had no idea what was possessing her to tell him all this. Maybe it was the fact that he was drunk or that what he was feeling was just so relatable; she couldn't be sure, but she knew that she wanted to. "She's not in prison anymore and I see her pretty often, but she has a family of her own now. She got married and had kids and I guess those things take precedence over her independent little sister." She let her head drop back, looking up at the ceiling. "I get it. I really do. It's where she needs to be. It's just..."

She swallowed. "Sometimes I feel alone, but I know I'm not. Neither of us are. I'm here with you and you're here with me." At this point, she wasn't even sure who she was trying to convince.

Klavier showed no signs that he was even conscious until he spoke again. "...Are we at work? I thought you would be sick of me by now."

Ema laughed as she leaned back against the headboard. "Yeah, me too, Gavin. Me too." She knew she should get a taxi home since Klavier didn't need a caretaker anymore, but she didn't feel like getting up. Or leaving, for that matter.

All she wanted to do was stay.


	7. Maybe We Could Be Friends

**Author's Note:** Oh sweet editing hell, it's finally done. Thank you for your support and feedback. This chapter was overhauled a bunch of times, but I think this is the best I'm gonna get it. We are about halfway through the story. Hope you'll stay with me until the end!

I originally started writing this fic because I wanted to do the exact _opposite_ of a lot of Klema fics I've seen. Somehow, I feel like that suits the pairing well. You'll see what I mean.

* * *

 _ **Titration**_ by HawkofNavarre

 **Chapter 7**

 _ **Maybe We Could Be Friends**_

* * *

Ema Skye woke up in Klavier Gavin's apartment.

 _Get up. Leave_ , she'd told herself the night before over and over again, long after Klavier had fallen asleep, but she didn't listen. Instead, she let her eyes droop and her exhaustion set in until she'd fallen asleep too. She wasn't confused or disoriented when she woke up, seeing as she was the sober one the night before. She knew _exactly_ how she'd gotten where she was now.

Her neck had fallen to the side in her slumber and it felt sore from being in that position all night. Her back didn't feel too great either, considering she'd been sitting up the entire time. Turning to glance to her left, she noticed that Klavier was no longer in the bed. It only took a second to hear the shower going in the bathroom next to her.

Groaning, Ema stretched out and fell over into the middle of the bed. She wasn't sure if she was ashamed of herself or not. Yes, she'd spent the night at Klavier's place, but there had been approximately zero sexual interaction. All it had really been were two grown adults feeling sorry for themselves and finding solace in having another person who understood nearby.

...The pitiable nature of that thought made her inwardly groan. She was pretty sure this would be some kind of walk of shame anyway.

Then again, Klavier was still in the shower and they had come up here through the garage. If she left through the front of the building this time, nobody would know any better. If there was one thing she didn't want to do, it was explain to Klavier why she had stayed the night. It definitely seemed unfair considering he had spilled his guts to her last night, but he was the one who had gotten drunk! She didn't have to justify her actions to anyone.

When Ema heard the patter of the water from the shower stop, she panicked. If she was going to make her escape inconspicuously, she needed to do it now. She rolled off the bed and gathered her low stilettos, scurrying to the entrance and sliding them on. Without another thought, she opened the door and shut it behind her on the way out, not sparing a look back.

* * *

As a woman of science, Ema wasn't even a little bit religious. Regardless, she'd prayed that Gavin wouldn't bring up the fact that she had stayed overnight at his place (he _had_ to have seen her on his bed when he woke up the next morning) because she had no idea how to explain her actions. His talking about missing his brother had undoubtedly stirred up her own loneliness, but there was no way in hell that she was ever going to tell him that. She wasn't going to tell him that she stayed the night because he was there, sharing the same feelings she had.

Luckily, her prayers—if she even believed in them—were answered when he didn't reference it at all the next time he saw her. Klavier simply thanked her for bringing him home and went about his day as usual. At first she was thankful for that, but then she realized she had inadvertently given him more power over her. He could use that information for blackmail in the future if he wanted to. Well, if that ever happened, she'd...she'd...

She'd do what? Use all his darkest secrets against him?

It was then that Ema realized how absolutely ridiculous she was being. Giving Klavier "power" was the same as being vulnerable. She was being so protective of herself, yet she had _way_ more personal information on Klavier than he had on her. He wasn't shy about being himself in front of her because he _trusted_ her. Why the hell would she think that he wouldn't offer her the same discretion when things were the other way around? Did she really think that he was that bad of a person? Of course not. That was obvious every time she thought about it. Still, she kept trying to protect herself from him and she couldn't figure out why.

Today was a Saturday and Ema had taken over a shift from her junior detective who usually filled in for her on her day off. The guy was sick and there was really nothing she could do about that, but it was definitely a hassle when she knew she had to work yet another one of Gavin's concerts tonight. Time seemed to be going by a lot quicker than she anticipated, though this was only the third of the six concerts she'd been contracted for. After all, she didn't have a lot to complain about. Loneliness at times, yes...she'd concede that to Lana, but she was doing what she loved and didn't have to worry too much about money. Work itself had generally been good since she and Klavier had started working together like a prosecutor and detective _should_ , barring the continued hassling from her persistent coworker.

"Speak of the devil..." she muttered as she approached her desk, ready to pack up her things. Ema didn't have time to swing by her apartment before she left for the Moonlight Theater today so she had planned to just grab her things at the precinct and go. Evidently, she should've also planned time in her day to go downstairs to the lab to kick some idiotic male ass.

The bottle of fingerprint powder would've been useful, but she wasn't going to use it when it came with a note saying, "Why not use this together?" from Dayton. She hadn't touched the bottle of luminol he'd given her on their date experiment either and figured she should probably give it back to him along with today's new gift. There was no way she would be using them; Ema wasn't going to do _anything_ to give Dayton ideas.

She snatched the note off the fingerprint powder and crumpled it in her hand, tossing it into the recycle bin next to her desk. The rest she'd deal with later.

* * *

"Is something wrong, Ema?" Klavier asked as they lounged around in his dressing room. "You seem to be...snacking more than usual."

She paused, mid-bite and rigidly turned to look at her boss who was doing his usual warm up before the concert. Swallowing, she resisted from pulling yet another chocolate snack out of the bag to avoid proving his point. "I snack when I'm hungry. Problem?"

"No, you _eat_ when you're hungry, fräulein," he countered with a frown. "You _snack_ when you are irritated."

Ema immediately went on the defence, unwilling to let him know he was right. "You don't know that."

He chuckled at her refusal to acknowledge the truth. "I do, in fact, know. I seem to recall you _snacking_ in the exact same manner for the majority of the first year you worked for me."

As the words left his mouth, she knew the battle was lost. He was using her initial dislike for him as proof, something she'd already admitted to him was real. Besides that, it was too exhausting to have to fight with Klavier after having worked a full day already. They hadn't even really _had_ any altercations recently; only disagreements about evidence and things to do with their cases, and there were no hard feelings when it was proven who ended up being right.

She was also slightly impressed that he remembered her habits from two years back.

"Okay, fine. Maybe I'm kind of annoyed," Ema conceded as she tossed another Snackoo in her mouth. She saw no reason to stop eating now that she was being honest.

He shot her a look, indicating that he had been expecting her to continue. Sighing, she curled up the top of the bag and shoved it into her side bag. "Fine, I'll talk, but this is off the record, alright? Just between you and me."

"I think you are the cop, not I," he replied, his version of an agreement.

It dawned on her for a second that she was about to _confide_ in Klavier Gavin, but finally gave up on resisting because of how much she used to not want to like him at all. The reality of it was that she had become friends with the prosecutor, regardless of how much 26 year old Ema wanted to hate him. There was nothing wrong with telling him about her problems just like she would with any of her other friends.

"Dayton is getting on my last nerve," she told him as she strode over to the couch and took a seat on top of the armrest, looking at the door. She was still on duty, after all. "The guy gives a new definition to not taking no for an answer."

Klavier blinked at her, then frowned. "Would you like me to—"

" _Off the record_ , I said," the detective reiterated with emphasis, turning back to the door. She fidgeted with a strand of hair, really just wanting to vent. "You know, persistence is cute to a point. Then I just want to chuck things at his face." She paused in thought. "Wait, what do you do when you get hounded by fans that don't leave you alone?"

He laughed, standing up from behind her to walk over and place his guitar back on its stand. "I wish I could be of more help, but unfortunately, the last very persistent fan that pursued me I had to get a restraining order against," Klavier explained as he settled against the armrest beside her.

"Yeah, I'm hoping it's not going to get to that point..." Ema sighed in resignation. "I've turned him down _multiple_ times already, gone on a date with him that I ended up walking out on, and I plan to return his gifts to him. I don't see anything else I can do besides officially complaining to you—" He opened his mouth, but she didn't let him start. "—which I'm _not_ going to do."

"There's always the option of dating another person," her boss suggested before smiling mischievously, "or insinuating you prefer _eine dame_ over _ein mann_."

Ema rolled her eyes and shoved the prosecutor playfully, causing him to stumble to the side a bit. Even with her seriously low comprehension of German, she could figure out Klavier was suggesting she tell Dayton she was gay. "You'd just love that, wouldn't you? The only woman who can resist your stupid rock star charm turns out to be _gay_."

He grinned back at her. "You said it, fräulein, not me."

"Why did I even tell you this again?" Ema asked in exasperation. "You're not helpful at all."

"Nein, and I never claimed to be," he replied haughtily, "but you're smiling and that is what matters to me."

She had to actually take a moment to feel how the corners of her lips were upturned to acknowledge the fact that she was indeed smiling. In response, her face flushed as she looked away stubbornly. That wasn't part of his rock star charm; it was just his idiotic foppishness trying to get the last word in again. Stupid pretty boy prosecutor...

Huffing, Ema pushed off the couch and strode towards the door. "Well, I have to go on patrol before the concert starts. You good?" she asked, whirling around to see his response.

He didn't move from his spot against the armrest, waving her away. "Ja, I'm ready to rock," he assured her, snapping his fingers before he shot her a sly look. "I'm glad you took me up on my offer, Ema. It will always stand."

Ema stared at him in confusion, then realized that he was referring to his offer to talk _months_ back when he had asked her to do this job and still had the same problems. She had been a lot more reluctant to let go of things when it came to Klavier back then, but she'd still been trying to get Dayton to stop bothering her. Some things changed and some didn't. It was startling Klavier even remembered something that small from so long ago.

"I was just returning the favour," she threw back with a snicker before she walked out the door. She was a little proud about that one, considering she had finally gotten the last word, but there was also truth in the statement. Earlier, she had been already having that dilemma about whether or not to let Klavier know more when it came to her, and it was his own candidness that allowed her to let go of that discomfort. In the end, she wasn't finding herself regretting that decision at all. They really _were_ frineds. It was such an odd thought...

Ema headed for the stage to make sure nothing was out of order, but as she was about to ascend the stairs behind the stage, her earpiece crackled to life.

"Ms. Skye? You should come over to the merchandise table by the entrance," one of her subordinates relayed to her in an urgent tone.

Frowning, she wondered what the heck was going on over there that required her presence. It couldn't be that big, otherwise she'd have heard shouts coming from the other end instead. A fire would have instantly set off the alarm and sprinklers, so it couldn't be that either. It was more likely that someone had just stolen from the cashier or something.

She didn't want to keep the others waiting, so she trekked towards the main entrance, passing the two guards she had placed in the hallway on her way out. As soon as she stepped out of the backstage hallway, she heard the screaming, but it wasn't from anyone in security. Puzzled by the high-pitched shrieks, Ema picked up the pace to reach the scene. People had gathered around and were watching two young women scream at each other at the top of their lungs.

Yeah...she probably should've asked for more detail.

Quickly, she called for one of the guys backstage to come help out. The crowd needed handling and they were vastly outnumbered. She was lucky that the two quarreling females had already been separated, despite how much noise they were making. Even having just a _tiny_ bit less to deal with was nice.

Ema regarded a nearby colleague, instructing him to move back the rest of the crowd in an attempt to handle the situation. As the herding of the fans towards the theater doors began, she stepped into the middle of the fiasco. The two girls were still swiping at each other despite both of them being subdued by a guard.

"What is going on?" she demanded over the squabbling.

One of the guards was clearly trying not to hurt this short girl as she struggled against his grip. "These two were fighting over some shirt," he grunted in annoyance, quite obviously unhappy with what he was having to deal with right now. Ema felt a twinge of empathy for him; she also hated dealing with crazy fangirls.

Both of the aggressive women seemed to stop shouting at his words, however, and the oddest thing happened.

"Excuse me? 'Some shirt'? ' _Some shirt'?_ " the short girl scoffed in outrage. "Do you even know what you're saying?"

"Yeah! What is wrong with you?" the other girl (Ema was thinking about calling her Nasal Girl, since her stuffed up voice seemed like the most notable thing about her right now) demanded.

Ema exchanged a look with the other off-duty officers. Had those girls really just stopped shrieking at each other and suddenly teamed up just because they thought a shirt was special?

The shirt in question was on the floor between them, and the detective bent down to pick it up. Holding onto the shoulders of the article, she let it hang so she could see what was so special about it. To her, it looked like just a normal grey t-shirt with a large Gavinners logo printed on the front. She turned it around briefly to get a look at the back which had the phrase, " _imprisoned by love"_ neatly printed in cursive. She recognized the words as lyrics from the Gavinners' first single "13 Years Hard Time for Love."

"Okay, well it's an _old_ shirt," Ema said with a shrug, still not seeing the big deal.

Nasal Girl stared at her like she had just spewed the most blasphemous words from her lips. "Bitch, that's a limited edition Gavinners shirt that came out only for their first local concert. They only ever made and sold 20 of those. It's a _true_ collector's item!" she explained as if insulted that Ema didn't know the importance of a five-dollar cotton t-shirt.

"That's why it belongs to _me!_ " Short Girl retorted loudly, sneering at her fellow fan. She eyed Nasal Girl up and down before sneering. "I mean, look at you. That wristband you're wearing is from the Guilty Love tour and was sold in mass. Everyone has it."

"Excuse you, but this is a limited edition _misprint_ of the version sold on tour that was only available by pre-ordering their concert blu-ray in 2020! Obviously you must be blind to have missed that."

" _You're_ the blind one, you—"

"Oh my god, both of you shut up," Ema snapped at the arguing females, shooting them the biggest glare she could conjure at the moment, which wasn't actually hard considering the crap she was putting up with right now. She couldn't care less about whose Gavinners collection was bigger and better. All she wanted to know was why this incident occurred in the first place.

Luckily, her demands were met and Nasal Girl and Short Girl both shut their mouths, so Ema started to ask questions. "Clearly neither of you actually own this shirt, and it's way too old to be sold at the merch tables," she concluded dryly as she gestured to the article of clothing that was apparently way more expensive than it looked. "Tell me then, where did it come from? And why are you fighting over it?"

Shirt Girl shrugged. "I dunno. Some chick told me I could have it if I wanted it."

"And then she said _I_ could have it if I wanted it," Nasal Girl added quickly.

"Whatever. I had it in my hands first, so it's mine."

"The previous owner gave _me_ ownership, so it's _mine._ "

Ema stepped between them before the situation escalated again. "Don't start," she warned the girls with a stern glance. "Now the woman that gave you the shirt, where did she go?

Short Girl and Nasal Girl exchanged glance. "I think she bolted?" Nasal Girl answered for the both of them.

The detective's brow wrinkled in thought, trying to figure out the missing woman's motivations. Why in the world would someone randomly give away a rare Gavinners collector's item only to flee from the transaction? It was way too suspicious to do for no reason. The fact that this woman had offered it to two different people at the same time was the nail in the coffin. She had a bad feeling about this, but hopefully she was worrying over nothing.

"Get them out of here," Ema ordered, even as the two females protested her decision. She flourished the shirt as the officers began escorting them away. "And next time? Behave yourselves and show some respect for Mr. Gavin. As far as I'm concerned, this shirt belongs to him."

Short Girl and Nasal Girl looked sufficiently ashamed of themselves as they were led outside. Satisfied that one thing was taken care of, Ema lifted her radio to her lips. "Team leaders, check in."

"Stage team checking in. We're good."

"Floor team checking in. Crowds have settled down. All clear."

"Entrance team checking in. The troublemakers are on their way out."

She waited a moment for the guards backstage to say something, but when her earpiece was silent, she felt her throat tighten in fear. Hesitantly, she clicked the transmit button again. "Backstage team, check in."

Silence.

"Shit," Ema muttered as she took off running backstage, dropping the shirt. There were only two people back there since she'd needed bodies to help control the crowd, but she suddenly regretted not putting more there. "I'm going to check on them. Standby, teams. Hold the guests and tech crew."

The theater was small, but she still had ground to cover. Sprinting, she rounded the corner to the backstage corridor that Officer Eskhort should have been covering. She skid to a stop, seeing him face down on the ground. Her anxiety rose as she bent down to check his pulse, which, to her relief, was still going strong. However, the realization that her other backstage placement was just as unconscious further down the hall near the dressing room narrowed her thoughts on only one thing: Klavier.

She didn't wait. She needed to get to him. Ema wasn't even entirely sure how she got to Klavier's dressing room at all, but the doorknob was in front of her and her gun in her hands. Carefully, she opened the door and her blood ran cold at the scene she was confronted with.

Brown hair. It was that woman she had seen at so many crime scenes following her boss around. The perspiration on her forehead was reminiscent of the first time Ema ever recalled seeing her at Klavier's first concert this year. She had a gun clutched in her hands and aimed at Klavier who had his hands up.

"The detective," the brunette regarded her, never taking her eyes of Klavier though she was fidgeting about nervously. "I was hoping to be done with this by the time you figured it out, but I guess those fans weren't the super fans they claim to be."

Ema aimed her firearm at the woman's shoulder. Non-lethal.

"Put the gun down, detective. I'll make sure to shoot him before you shoot me, I swear," she threatened shakily, still staring at the prosecutor.

"You don't have to do this," Ema replied, the textbook line rolling off her tongue. It was a commonly used first line of negotiation that was taught at the academy. Most of the time it would start a conversation, which was exactly what she was trying to do.

"Yes I _do._ Now _put down the gun, detective!_ " the woman shouted impatiently.

"Okay, okay." Not willing to gamble with Klavier's life, Ema raised her hands, slowly placing the gun on the ground. Her eyes flickered to her boss for a second. He was focused just as she was, trying to find a way out. She was not going to let him down. She couldn't.

There was silence in the room, the brunette constantly readjusting her grip on her gun. She was clearly working up the nerve to do something other than hold Klavier at gunpoint. Negotiation was definitely the way to go.

"You don't have to do this," Ema repeated quietly, trying to open the conversation again.

"Shut up! Yes I do!" the woman hissed. "He ruined my _life!_ "

"You could go to prison. There are other ways," the detective reasoned calmly, waiting for her opening.

"I don't _care_ if I go to prison! He has to die!" she shrieked, losing her temper. Her eyes were red and she was practically hyperventilating. "He just walks about in his expensive clothes, singing his stupid songs, _pretending_ like he's helping the world, but all he does is _ruin the lives of good people._ "

There were tears rolling down her cheeks at this point in her monologue, but she never budged from her stance. "I had a child...a baby... We-we were going to be a family, and then _he_ stole my husband from me! My husband was rotting in jail and my baby _died!_ I never even got to hold him! We were supposed to be a family and he took it all away!"

She composed herself, hands still trembling. "He ruined my life and now I'm going to ruin his."

That was the moment Ema saw it. Her opportunity. The woman's finger slipped from the trigger, an error that would only be made by someone that wasn't actually ready to fire a gun. It was enough. Ema wasn't going to let anything happen to Klavier.

The reaction was nearly automatic as Ema tackled the woman to the ground, the gun skittering across the floor. She grunted in pain when she felt a foot slam into her shoulder. The woman was clawing at the ground to reach the discarded firearm, but Ema wasn't going to allow it. Though this woman was scrappy as hell, she wasn't a fighter. Surging forward, the detective dragged her opponent back. She saw Klavier grab the guns and alarms were going off her head to _get off the floor._ They both staggered to their feet, but Ema was quicker.

A fist nearly grazed her face, so close she could feel the air swirling against her cheek. A miss was a miss, though, and the officer in her saw the opportunity. She whirled and her elbow was thrust into soft flesh. Hands clutched tightly around an arm, Ema threw the woman over her shoulder and onto the ground. It was an instinct to grab her gun from Klavier, leveling it at the woman on the ground.

" _Don't move,_ " Ema warned her as she lifted her radio. "I need back up to the dressing room."

The brunette on the floor complied as quiet sobs started wracking her body. Ema disregarded this and looked at her boss who appeared stunned and a little pale. He still had the gun that had been aimed at him in his hand as he stood there in a daze, staring at it.

"Klavier, you okay?" she asked, eyes flickering between the prosecutor and his defeated stalker. When he didn't answer or even acknowledge her address, she prodded him again. "Klavier?"

He blinked, glancing at her in surprise. "I... I'm... Ja... I'm fine..."

A second later, three officers came running into the room. Ema holstered her weapon and allowed the others to take over. Her heart rate was going a mile a minute and seeing his attacker in cuffs set her a little more at ease. Klavier was alright. Other than a bit of a sore shoulder, she was unscathed. Ema couldn't even express how relieved she was at the moment.

As they booked the perpetrator, she moved to Klavier's side who was handing off the gun he'd procured. She placed a hand on his shoulder and he jumped slightly, obviously a bit shaken from everything that had just occurred.

"Hey, it's just me," the detective assured him gently.

"Ema..." the prosecutor started as he let out a stressed sigh, "thank you. For saving me."

It hit her in that moment the gravity of what had just occurred. Honestly, she hadn't really been thinking about any sort of heroic action; it had just been all about making sure Klavier didn't get _hurt_. It hadn't even been a very hard fight, but considering she was a trained police officer and this woman didn't appear to have any combat training whatsoever, it would have been more than just embarrassing if it had been a difficult battle. There was no way around the fact that he'd almost been murdered. The thought of what could have happened if she had arrived one minute later or been a less competent fighter made her heart clench painfully.

She didn't respond to his gratitude because saving his life had hardly been something that required it. Ema had already been scared half to death with the idea that he even needed _saving._ She was selfish, knowing she wouldn't have been able to forgive herself if she hadn't been there, regardless of whether or not she was being paid. "What happened? I couldn't really understand what she was trying to say other than you ruined her life."

"I...didn't recognize her at first, but she was the wife of a man I convicted years ago," he explained in a voice that wasn't nearly as steady as it usually was. "She was pregnant at the time and before you came in, she told me she'd miscarried and was left with nothing."

Klavier was quiet for a moment. "The case... It was airtight."

Right away, Ema knew what he was thinking. He had been wrong about Phoenix in the past, so what if he had been wrong about this person too? She had to shut that line of thinking down immediately.

"That man, her husband, what did you convict him of?" she asked.

Klavier gave her a puzzled look. "Murder."

"Okay, good," Ema replied firmly with a nod as she crossed her arms. "You followed up with all the leads, discovered the true story, and convicted a guilty man. I know that because I know _you_ , and Klavier Gavin would never half-ass a case. Don't let some woman looking for someone to blame make you doubt your convictions. I'm sorry that she lost her baby and that her husband turned out to be a killer, but that's not your fault. You did your job and you did it well."

Klavier closed his eyes, absorbing her words, then managed a smile for her. "Thank you, Ema."

The pep-talk? _That_ , she was willing to accept gratitude for. However, as she opened her mouth to respond, Argin's worried voice filled her ear. "Detective Skye? What's going on? All the security guards have been smothering he tech team for the last twenty minutes. Klavier needs to be on in five."

Grimacing, Ema knew she had to deliver bad news. Today wasn't helping her dislike of concerts at all. "Argin, I'm sorry to say this, but we're going to have to cancel the—"

Abruptly, Klavier snatched the radio out of her hand and answered in her stead. "Ignore her. Everything is fine. I will be ready on time."

Had he really just done that? Ema wasn't sure which part successfully shoved the speech out of her body: Klavier stealing her radio or his making an executive decision despite it going directly against police protocol. Her jaw had dropped at both those things, and then she was angry.

Argin still seemed confused, but accepted Klavier's answer despite him not having an earpiece in yet. Unwilling to just give in to his whims, Ema tore her radio away from him.

"What are you doing?" she demanded. "Someone just tried to kill you. You can't just go on like that doesn't change anything. There are protocols!"

"It _doesn't_ change anything," Klavier protested stubbornly. "There is a room full of people expecting me out there. I have no reason to keep them waiting."

She gaped at his idiocy. "You almost _died!_ I think that's a pretty good reason!"

"I'm fine," he insisted, his jaw tight.

"You're _not fine,_ " Ema retorted acrimoniously, alarming the remaining officer in the room, but she didn't care. "Your hands are shaking and you're as pale as a sheet!"

"This is not your call to make," the prosecutor argued, deliberately avoiding the point she was making.

Her anger was beginning to boil over. It always bothered her when Klavier got in the last word, but she couldn't deal with it right now. He was acting like nothing of note had happened. He'd almost _died_ and she could see he was understandably upset about it, yet he was acting like some nonchalant _asshole_ who thought his own life wasn't worth anything. His life _was_ worth something. His life was worth _everything._ How _dare_ he act like that after she'd just saved him! Pretending like it didn't matter how close to death he'd come? She couldn't believe it. She needed him to see how dumb he was being.

"It _is_ my call," she seethed, glaring hard back at him. "This might be your event, _Prosecutor_ Gavin, but I am the officer with the highest authority here, and _I_ say that I need to take you down to the precinct to take your statement!"

Klavier looked at her incredulously. "Are you trying to pull rank on me?"

"I just did," Ema replied defiantly, daring him to challenge her.

His face hardened, and Ema hadn't expected him to back down, though she'd hoped he would. Obviously this wasn't going to be the case.

He turned away from her, walking over to his guitar stand in the corner. He picked up the instrument by the neck. "Then I suppose it's fortunate that I already gave you my statement," Klavier retorted in a low voice as she paused at the door. "The show will continue, with or without you, Fräulein Detective."

Klavier left, presumably heading for the stage. Ema clenched her fists as rage bubbled up inside her. She couldn't stop herself from following him out the door. "I'm glad you're finally being honest about where your priorities lie!" she shouted after him viciously.

He faltered in his step for a second, but continued on without looking back. She watched him turn into the corridor to the stage before kicking the closest object, which happened to be a cardboard box.

Today she'd gotten in the last word, but it didn't feel good at all.


	8. Science Says

Author's Note: This is late. I've been busy. Rest assured, this fic will be finished. Thank you for your continued support!

Fun fact, I wrote 80 percent of this chapter in a hotel room in Korea on my phone!

* * *

 _ **Titration**_ by HawkofNavarre

 **Chapter 8**

 _ **Science Says**_

* * *

It was late when Ema got home from work. She'd had to make an emergency stop at a gas station store to pick up a couple bags of Snackoos because she was almost certain she wasn't going to make it through the night without them. She had been able to follow through with her duties the rest of the night mostly on a fuming autopilot, even as discoveries about the night's plot were being made. A diversion had been planned using prized Gavinners merchandise to scramble guards and the knocked out guards were fine, only having been tased. Klavier had been the woman's sole target and she snuck her weapons by security by disguising the taser as a cell phone and taping the gun to her back. Apparently some movie references were more useful for planning a murder than others. The whole thing was just another reason to be angry, and then she realized there would be a ridiculous amount of paperwork to do for the incident when she went in on Monday, incensing her even more.

Now, at almost one in the morning, her anger at Klavier had faded and she was now feeling deep, deep regret at her actions. Oh hell yes, she was still insanely infuriated at his blasé attitude towards _nearly being killed_ , but it also finally clicked a couple hours after her outburst that he had full control of her career. He could ruin everything she'd worked for with a just few words to the police commissioner.

Too exhausted to shower, she stripped out of her clothes as soon as she got home and changed into her pyjamas, settling into her favourite spot on the couch with her bag of Snackoos at the ready. She tore into them without a second thought, then grabbed her cell phone. Lana worked at odd hours and it was hard to tell whether her sister would be sleeping at this hour or not. Then again, Lana would be pissed if she didn't call in a situation like this one. It couldn't wait.

Ema chose the name from her contacts and waited as the line rang. It only rang twice before her sister picked up.

"Ema, hey. I'm glad you called, even though I'm a little concerned about why you'd be calling this late," Lana greeted her, no trace of sleepiness in her voice.

"Yeah, sorry... Are you working a case right now?"

"No. Just still up doing a bit of light reading," the private detective replied. "Now are you going to tell me why you called?"

Ema swallowed, nervous to tell her sister exactly how much she had screwed up. "I...I think I might have lost my job."

" _What?_ "

She didn't really know how to continue, but she did anyway. "Well, I kind of yelled at my boss."

There was a beat of silence, then, "...Okay, context. I need context."

"You know how I've been working those concerts recently for some extra cash, right? Well, something went wrong today. Someone took out two of the guards backstage and Klavier almost—"

"Wait," Lana interrupted, "as in Klavier _Gavin?_ You never told me you were working security for _him._ "

"Yes him," she grumbled as she took a bite of one of her Snackoos. His name coming out of Lana's mouth somehow brought all her irritation back. "That stupid fop almost died and he just brushed it off like it was nothing. Someone actually had a gun pointed at him and he waves it off like it's not a big deal! I couldn't just stand there and take it! If I'd come in a second later, she would have shot him!"

"You kept working late _and_ allof those concerts were for Prosecutor Gavin?" Lana probed, seemingly inappropriately. It was a little frustrating for Ema. She just wanted her sister's support, but Lana seemed to be having difficulty following the situation.

"Yeah, they were, but are you not understanding his idiotic disregard for his own life?" she asked, exasperated that her sister was not agreeing with her.

"And you yelled at him for not being more concerned about his own wellbeing after you saved his life," Lana trailed on with her own train of thought.

"See? You get it," Ema confirmed, nodding her head. "It was totally justified."

Lana was quiet for a moment, then posed the last question Ema thought her sister would ever ask. "Ema, are you sure you don't have feelings for Prosecutor Gavin?"

The forensics investigator was rendered completely speechless, having no clue how Lana would have even slightly picked up that idea from their conversation. Feelings? Oh, she had feelings alright—feelings of annoyance because of his glimmerous personality, feelings of anger because of his carelessness when it came to his own wellbeing, and feelings of rage because of his _stupid pretty boy face!_ Any remotely positive feelings she had for Klavier Gavin were absolutely nonexistent, especially right now. It was a wonder how anyone could ever like some idiot like him.

"How in the seven hells did that thought even occur to you, Lana?" Ema asked, fully outraged as she tossed her bag of snacks onto the coffee table.

"Oh calm down. Just hear me out," her older sister insisted, completely unperturbed by the beast she had awoken. "I honestly wouldn't have thought anything of it if you'd told me those security gigs were for anyone else, but it's Gavin, Ema. The same guy you kept telling me you hated, but as soon as you transferred back from Khura'in and they were reassigning which prosecutor you had to work with, you went back to Gavin without protest. You had enough seniority to ask for someone else."

Lana didn't pause long enough in her explanation to let Ema even begin to make excuses, though they were at the tip of her tongue. "So you were working long hours with him, and then when he asked you to work with him _some more,_ you agreed. That meant sacrificing your nights off."

Ema was faster this time, lest she let her sister continue without defending her reasoning. "Come on, Lana, you know that was just to cut down on my student loans! I can actually afford stuff now!" she hastily threw out, floundering for a moment.

"And that's great, Ema, but I've seen you twice over the last three months since those concerts started and I can't imagine that you would miss our regular meet ups unless you were actually enjoying what you were doing," Lana pointed out. "Unless, of course, I'm wrong about that."

The detective gritted her teeth. Of course she would never choose money over her own sister, but the allure of the double pay as well as a generally relaxing night (provided nothing went wrong) that she could spend casually engaging in easy conversation with the glimmerous fop was a fairly strong pull. That topped with all the late nights of breaking through cases and it was true that she'd be losing out on a lot of her nights. She never thought much of it because Lana always understood. They still talked on the phone. It wasn't until now that Ema realized how much less she was actually seeing her sister.

"You're...not wrong," Ema admitted as she fiddled with one of the cushions on the couch.

"I'm glad, because I'd be really offended otherwise."

The detective let a smile tug at the sides of her lips. "You're my sis. Money has nothing on you."

She heard Lana laugh on the other side of the line. "But science does, right?" she chortled good-naturedly.

"Science is bigger than all of us," Ema replied seriously, and the two of them laughed.

As the humour faded away, Lana's tone melted back into its sober state. "I don't want to make any assumptions, Em, but the fact that you yelled at Prosecutor Gavin for not being more concerned about himself means that you at least care a lot about him," she said, not bothering to mince words.

Ema winced. "Sis, regardless of what you think, nothing changes the fact that I yelled at Gavin and am probably going to be fired the next time I walk in to work," she responded as she side-stepped the comment and redirected Lana. Besides, that was still the major problem at hand.

"In that case, I guess all you can do is apologize and hope for the best. But don't think I've forgotten about this, Ema. Your last serious boyfriend was six years ago and it's nice you're finally opening up your heart again," Lana stated simply. "You've never been one to actively look for a boyfriend, but I've still always hoped you could find someone to share your life with."

"Alright, alright, let's not turn this conversation into something it's not," she grumbled, still feeling sorry for herself. "Guess I'll try and sleep now. Night, Lana. Thanks for the talk."

"No problem, little sis. Good night."

Ema was too miserable to pry herself off the couch at that hour, so tried to sleep in the spot she already occupied. However, her mind was a cacophony of thoughts from her conversation with Lana, her own feelings, and fears of what would happen to her job. After twenty minutes, she gave up and began pensively snacking on her chocolate munchies. There was no point in trying to sleep if she couldn't calm down her mind.

There was nothing she could do about her job situation barring an apology to Gavin that she wouldn't really mean, but she would do it if it meant saving her skin. Meanwhile, what Lana had said about feelings kept intruding on her mind. Certainly, she knew that Klavier had become a good friend—one that she could banter with, if anything, since they knew each other's buttons so well—but she would never go so far as to say she had feelings for him. It was undeniable they spent a lot of time together, but that was for work. Just because they spent a lot of time together without getting sick of the other person's presence had no relation as to whether or not there were some sort of feelings on her part.

Frustrated, Ema started to drift off. They had such a good thing going for once. Why'd he have to ruin it by reverting back to his dumb aloof persona? Why'd she have to ruin it by opening her big mouth? Why couldn't things have just stayed the same?

She was vaguely aware of the bag of Snackoos falling off her lap as her eyes dropped closed, but that hardly seemed to matter. For a brief time, she would be able to forget about the problems weighing down on her, and that was more than enough for her. It was a relief, really, to fall into the sanctuary of sleep.

* * *

She was dusting prints on the antique boudoir that sat in the victim's room. It was a shame, really, when this woman had collected so much gorgeous jewellery only to be murdered in her sleep. Ema could see the golden chains strewn about, scattered from the thief rummaging through the lady's belongings.

She found a clean one, finally, transferring the print on her plastic sheet to put it onto the fingerprint scanner. She waited a minute, going back to dusting for other prints as the results processed. Her tablet made a noise, indicating that the results had been delivered and she was disappointed to see that there was no match.

"How is it looking?" Klavier asked her as be approached her crouched form from behind. She had this nagging feeling that she was supposed to be angry at him, but she couldn't remember why.

"Grim," she replied, biting the inside of her cheek. She didn't like when she could find enough evidence to build a case, even if that wasn't her fault. "I found a print, but we don't have it in the system."

"At least we have something to go on. The other officers are going door to door to see if anyone saw something. Hopefully that will help our case a bit," the prosecutor told her as she stood up to face him.

It was at that moment that she realized that they were the only ones at the crime scene, which made no sense to her. There should have been way more forensics investigators there than just her. There was no way she would be able to process the whole crime scene on her own.

"Ema, what's wrong?"

She looked back at him, mouth slightly open. His eyebrows were drawn together, a little concerned for her as he placed his hand on her shoulder. She didn't know what was happening, but her heart was racing and there was something inside of her that was drawing her to him like a magnet. Suddenly, her hands were on _his_ shoulders and she was pretty sure it was because she wanted to kiss him rather than push him away. The urge was overwhelming as she stood there, stuck in indecision. This was Klavier Gavin, her boss and friend, but never potential romantic partner. She knew she shouldn't kiss him no matter how much he wanted to. Somehow, she held herself back.

"Ema...?" he prodded.

She opened her eyes to see she was still on the couch in her room, the bag Snackoos she had been eating last night now on the floor. Taking a deep breath, she sat up.

What _the hell_ was that?

Obviously it was a dream, but it hardly seemed like there was anything out of the ordinary happening until the end of it. It was a fairly realistic dream where she was just doing her job. She hadn't suspected it was a dream at all. And then it had turned _weird._

The feeling of wanting to kiss Klavier had been so strong that she could still feel it when she woke up. Her mind was in a panicked mess and Ema was trying desperately to convince herself that it had just been her discussion with Lana that night about having feelings for her superior that leaked into the dream. That happened all the time; things you were thinking about too much tended to manifest themselves into your dreams. That explained the entirely too normal work circumstance, since she was constantly working.

Still, she couldn't make sense of this. She had to calm down.

 _Alright Ema, think about this logically. Scientifically._

She separated herself from her inner scientist, getting into her element. It was time to settle this without the interference of outside opinions. Quickly, her mind got to work.

 _Hypothesis: Ema Skye has feelings for Klavier Gavin._

 _Observations: Ema Skye currently finds working with Klavier Gavin tolerable, as opposed to prior when she could not stand his glimmerous foppishness. Ema has repeatedly chosen to take on extra work for him, although this is also to help pay off her student loans. A counterpoint is that she has inadvertently blown off her sister to participate in various work shifts with said prosecutor._

 _Ema believes that Gavin never stops working in one way or another and takes his job very seriously. He is a perfectionist in everything he does, but he is also quite obnoxious in the way that he perceives perfection. He is objectively a physically attractive person, but instead of dressing modestly, he flaunts his appearance with gaudy accessories and statement clothing._

 _Gavin is honest when she asks him to be and is very candid. However, he generally exudes a rock star personality and likes to charm girls._

 _Ema also had a dream about really wanting to kiss Gavin in a nearly normal, everyday scenario._

 _Results: Ema spends a lot of time with Gavin without issue and has incidentally chose to spend more time with him over seeing her sister. She finds his work ethic and desire to find the truth admirable. She finds him attractive despite his terrible fashion sense. She knows that he is a giant flirt, but that he is also a genuine person. She really wanted to kiss him in her dream, and even after she woke up._

 _Conclusion: In taking all these things into account, it is very likely that Ema Skye has feelings for Klavier Gavin._

And that was it. The scientific conclusion. The one thing she couldn't reject.

"No way..." she breathed as she threw herself forward to gather the bag of Snackoos on the ground. She suddenly had the intense urge to just consume the chocolate-covered munchies without any self-restraint whatsoever.

There were plenty of people she surrounded herself with who she thought were admirable and inherently good. She had thought both Mr. Wright and Prosecutor Edgeworth were amazing people when she was just a teenager, although Prosecutor Edgeworth had always been more of an idol in her eyes than anything. The way he held himself seemed just like a man _should_ in her eyes, and that had been the only time in her life that she had ever fantasized about being a man's "special someone."

But then came the generation that was part of her own, like Apollo and Prosecutor Sahdmadhi. She and Apollo were generally on the same wavelength, but there was zero attraction there. She could never be with someone as snarky as she was though they were good enough friends. And his adopted brother, Prosecutor Sahdmadhi—well, now _he_ was actually surprisingly similar to Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth. He held himself very proudly, worked with a serious attitude, was respectful of others...unless he thought they siding with criminals, in which case they were putrid-minded fools who were on the next train to the Twilight Realm.

...Okay, so Prosecutor Sahdmadhi was kind of extreme sometimes, but he was also highly intelligent and good at his job. Plus, he complimented her forensic analysis skills and Ema was basically putty in his hands when it came to praise on the subject she prided herself on. She enjoyed working with him when he wasn't doling out "punishment" in the form of astoundingly longwinded (and torturously boring) speeches. He had become a good friend while she was working in Khura'in, but he was hardly expressive when it came to private matters. That privilege was for his family only. In the end, she only knew him well enough to know that she liked him as a friend.

But then, of course, there was Gavin, whose intentions she'd doubted ever since meeting him. How could she not? This smug pretty boy was waltzing around flirting with girls while Mr. Wright's name was dragged through the mud. And then seven years of hatred later, of course she found out there was more to the story. Klavier had truly thought he was doing the right thing, which he always did his best to do when he was working a case. She had to face the reality of that when she was working as his subordinate, still holding a grudge against him. He was so easy to hate with his annoying personality, and now he still _had_ that same annoying personality, but she knew him better. Every time she asked him a question, he was so open about it she almost found it frustrating. He gave her the truth when she asked for it and she felt the compelled to do the same in return.

Somehow, along the way, she had gotten close to Gavin. His fangirls might know his favourite movie or his preferred colour or what food he liked to eat (surprisingly, she knew the answer to this one too simply by length of association; it was roast pork knuckle), but she was the one who knew all about the aftermath of Daryan and Kristoph's betrayals. He'd always acted like he was fine, well enough that even she hadn't suspected a thing until she'd gotten back from Khura'in and thrown the weirdest request her way. It had prompted her to ask him the questions that mattered, questions that she now knew the answers to.

Their conversations blended together like easygoing repartee that she had gotten used to. He let her barbed words slide off him like beads of water and retorted with a teasing quip that he knew would get under her skin. Ema tried her best not to let it bother he, fighting him for the last word. That was their dynamic and she had grown to like it.

She had grown to like being with _him_.

Ema tossed an entire handful of Snackoos into her mouth in distress. Only in retrospect could she really see everything that had _actually_ occurred yesterday. Yes, she'd yelled at Klavier because she cared for him, like Lana claimed, but that had been after fighting off the vengeful wife of a murderer who would have shot him if Ema hadn't thrown herself in the way first. She could easily claim that it was her natural instincts as an officer of law enforcement that kicked in the moment she saw that gun and it would be believable, but a terrible lie. Her mind had been blank. All she knew was that she couldn't let that bullet hit Klavier, and then when she got up to fight, Ema threw down like her own life depended on it. Nothing was because she was his chief of security that night and everything was because she couldn't handle the thought of Klavier getting hurt.

Oh god, Lana was wrong. There weren't just feelings—she actually might kind of actually be _in love_ with him.

Ema sat up on the couch abruptly, staring at the bag of Snackoos with wide eyes. The scientific evidence was irrefutable even to her highly biased point of view, and when she brought her own thoughts into consideration, short of outright denial, it was obvious that her actions and responses were the result of...of...fa—

"I'm not even going to think of the 'F' word," she announced to the empty room as she stood to throw the eaten bag of snacks in the garbage can.

She could not think of the "F" word, because even if it was love, that word changed the context of everything. She loved Lana. She loved Mr. Wright. There was nothing wrong with either of those. She cared for them a lot and would throw herself in front of a bullet for either of them. That kind of love was familial. Platonic. The kind she had just stumbled upon was not.

The detective momentarily thought about calling her sister again. If there was one person she could talk to about her feelings (the less frightening of the "F" words), it was Lana Skye. Of course, some abrupt confession of the things she'd somehow figured out overnight was not something she really wanted to get into at the moment. It was pure coincidence...sort of...that she happened to have some slightly seductive dream about her boss last night after Lana made her suggestions.

 _I can't just stand around and stew about this all day,_ she admonished herself, glaring at the wall. She reminded herself yet again that these developments didn't change anything about last night; she'd yelled at her boss! Ema had saved up a little money after taking on those concert security shifts, but she would still be hard pressed to find a job to make sure her rent was comfortably taken care of.

As if on cue, her cell phone rang, the screen indicating that it was the precinct on the other end of the line. Swallowing, Ema picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Oh, hey, Detective Skye? Sorry to bother you on your day off, but I guess the department just wanted to make sure you knew about your meeting with Prosecutor Gavin at his office tomorrow at nine sharp," the female voice on the other end of the line said.

And there it was. The demise of her dream job, gone so soon after having fought for it for so long.

"R-right... Thanks..." she replied weakly.

The receptionist bid her farewell and the call ended. Distressed, Ema sought out her second bag of Snackoos, ripping them open despite the fact that it wasn't even past breakfast yet. She needed all the help she could get.


	9. Don't Preconceive Your Notions

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone for your feedback! You guys are awesome and it is very much appreciated! Yes, we can absolutely be friends. :)

These types of chapters are always the most difficult for me to write, but I usually find they end up some of my favourites. This one I just find turned out hilarious and I don't think I'll ever get over it.

* * *

 _ **Titration**_ by HawkofNavarre

 **Chapter 9**

 _ **Don't Preconceive Your Notions**_

* * *

Nobody knew a thing. Ema was walking through the hallways of the Prosecutor's Office and everybody was going about their day as if they knew nothing about what was about to happen to her. The receptionist on the ground floor greeted her brightly as usual, telling her she could go ahead and take the elevator up to Klavier's floor. In the elevator, she ran into one of the office paralegals who engaged in small talk with her. On Klavier's floor, Prosecutor Debeste told her how wonderful she looked today and went on a fairly long spiel about his latest conquest in court. It was all so ridiculously normal that Ema was having a hard time believing she was about to be fired herself.

But just because nobody knew didn't mean it was going to change the course of her fate. She'd never felt this nervous before, even when she was standing in front of the door that led to the forensics exams. Seeing Klavier for the first time since making sense of her feelings while being reprimanded for insubordination was a really bad idea. Ema was about to be on the receiving end of a ruthless tongue-lashing and all she could do was stand there and take it. Then she would swallow her pride and apologize if she had to.

She would swallow her feelings and get this over with.

Even after Prosecutor Debeste talking her ear off for a good few moments, she was still early to receive confirmation of her demise. She raised her hand, hesitating only for a second before her knuckles rapped against the door. Waiting, she heard two male voices from within the room and she panicked, wondering if he had brought the Chief Prosecutor into the fold about their situation as well. Granted, the whole thing had happened when she was technically off the clock, but even off duty, she was still an officer of the law.

A muffled "come in" came from the other side of the door and the detective took a deep breath, steeling herself as she turned the knob and passed through the threshold.

Klavier's office had undergone a major overhaul over the last couple of years. Since he had more or less withdrawn from his career as a musician, the giant stereos he had previously used as desks were gone and replaced with a modern black desk in front of the window at the back of the room. Legal books and case files that used to litter the floor were now neatly put away on shelves that took over the display case that had held his guitars. He only had one guitar in the room now and it sat on a stand under his smart screens that were still mounted on the wall. Despite not coming here all that often, considering Klavier was generally down at the precinct when he discussed cases with her, she was familiar with his office's new look since the Gavinners had broken up. What she _hadn't_ expected, however, was the man standing in front of Klavier's desk.

That wasn't Miles Edgeworth. That was her coworker Detective Spex.

The glasses-clad man was a couple years older than her, but she knew him pretty well. They had attended the academy together and climbed the ladder to become detectives in the same promotion period. The man was very serious and had basically no sense of humour, but his deductive reasoning made him very good at his job. He turned to look at her as she entered the room, the same no-nonsense expression he always wore sent in her direction.

Her mind raced. What the _hell_ was he doing here? Had a precinct sent him over to check on the situation after Klavier had complained to the commissioner? It didn't help at all that he was so difficult to read, even with how long she'd known him.

Klavier was no easier to read. His expression was stern, but he greeted her all the same. "Good morning, Fräulein Detective."

And now she was back to being a nameless detective too. "Good morning, Prosecutor Gavin," she gritted out politely, unsure if she was sad or angry. Ema strode over to the front of the table where her colleague was standing, regarding him with a nod. "Detective Spex."

"Detective Skye," the spectacled man said in return, emotionless.

Tensions were high in the room and the pleasantries had been anything but. She'd only been inside that office for a minute and already she felt like she wanted to die.

"Thank you for coming. Your punctuality is appreciated," Klavier started politely, a little more formal than she was certainly used to, but it was what she expected in a situation like this one. His lack of warmth was also something she had anticipated, yet she couldn't help but feel a little hurt by it. Regardless of her deeper feelings, they had become good friends over the last few months. The detached way he was looking at her now was like a punch in the gut.

Remorse ate at her. She'd ruined everything by opening her stupid mouth. The last time Klavier had looked at her like that was two years ago during the LeTouse case when he'd thought so lowly of her that he had withheld Lamiroir's blindness from her. Still, Ema couldn't entirely regret her little mutiny when she'd just been trying to do what was best for him. She wondered if he even realized how much he'd been shaking. Probably not, seeing as how he'd immediately covered it up with his rock star persona, pretending like nearly getting shot hadn't bothered him in the least. So then again, the whole reason she was in this position was that glimmerous fop's fault.

In the end, though, it didn't matter who had been right or wrong in that scenario. She had defied him when she knew she ultimately had no authority to do so and wrecked her career in the process. Even if she was the police officer and not him, Klavier would always have more sway with the Chief of Police than she ever would. Ema had to salvage the situation.

Just as she opened her mouth to make her apology, Klavier cut her off abruptly. "I'm glad you two know each other. Fräulein Detective, Herr Spex will be taking over all of your active cases with me, so please give him a rundown before you start on any new cases with your next prosecutor assigned."

Ema mentally froze. What did he just say?

He kept going, staring at an open folder and addressing her before she had time to process the whole thing. "The transfer is more or less all set, so you'll be reporting to Prosecutor Payne tomorrow." The male closed the folder in front of him, pushing it forward on his desk. "This contains a list of his open cases that you can review after you've finished walking Herr Spex through ours. The paperwork will not go through until tomorrow, so you are free to do what you want for the remainder of the day. Just be sure to check in with Prosecutor Payne."

She stood there, mouth slightly open and eyes locked on the large folder being offered to her. Ema had walked into this room fully expecting to be fired, but that wasn't what happened at all. Instead, she was getting _transferred_ to work under Prosecutor Winston Payne, which was a punishment that was _worse_ than being booted off the police force. Every thought she'd ever had about Klavier being the most conceited person on the face of the Earth was currently being retracted on account of Payne. The man was arrogant without the skill to back it up, generally pulling out his convictions only when up against lawyers who were newer to the courtroom. He had been a pretty average prosecutor back in the day, but he was now nearing his mid sixties and while the attitude had stayed, his mind's sharpness hadn't. He was terrible at getting his point across and worse at making rebuttals. Going on the stand with him at the helm would mean constant courtroom humiliation. He would make it look like her work was sloppy and useless so her reputation as a top detective and forensic investigator would be crushed _before_ she got fired.

This couldn't be happening. Her brain was short-circuiting trying to process it all.

"Detective Skye, aren't you going to take the folder?" Spex asked, obviously confused by her hesitance but stoic enough to keep from showing it on his face too much.

Klavier remained silent, though he was eying her intently, as if challenging her to protest his decision. It was clear he knew that he'd saved her ass by not narking on her to the commissioner, but somehow, he'd come up with a punishment that was even worse. She didn't feel any anger, however. She just felt...morose that he would go out of his way to do this to her. It was like the relationship they'd built over the last few months didn't mean anything.

Ema felt her eyes burning with the beginnings of unshed tears. Before, she'd just been planning to apologize for her actions and not really mean it, but now she realized he was out for serious revenge. That was hitting her harder than she could have ever anticipated. All she had been trying to do was protect him.

"Detective Skye?" her colleague prompted.

"Could you... Could you give me a moment to speak with Prosecutor Gavin privately?" she asked, swallowing the emotion that was threatening to overwhelm her.

Her fellow detective looked to her and then back at the seated Gavin, both of them unmoving. Lifting an eyebrow, he seemed to register how heavy the atmosphere had become and offered her a polite nod before swiftly exiting the room.

Silence. Ema tried to gather herself, not even sure about what she wanted to say.

"What did you want to speak about, Fräulein Detective?"

The feeling of melancholy settled and her temper flared. Was he seriously playing _dumb_ with her right now?

"I think it's pretty obvious!" Ema hissed, flinging her arms up in aggravation. She started pacing back and forth in front of the desk. "I know what I did was technically wrong, but I honestly didn't think you were capable of being this much of an asshole!"

Klavier's jaw was clenched tight in annoyance at her barb, but they weren't the type of people to mince words when it came to one another. "It is abundantly clear how lowly you think of me, fräulein."

"That's not—" she started, abruptly cutting herself off with a noise of frustration. Letting out a breath, she tried to gather herself. It was literally like the last few months had never happened. They were back at the beginning where they'd started, miscommunications abound and throwing shade at each other. She didn't mean for things to turn out this way. She didn't _want_ things to turn out this way. Then again, she hadn't been the only one reacting to the situation. If Klavier had just gotten her fired or demoted, she wouldn't have had any problem at all. It had been her expectation, after all. Instead, he'd decided to act like an extra vindictive jerk and she couldn't just walk out of here with an apology like she'd originally planned.

"This doesn't have anything to do with what I think about you!" Ema shot back, stomping up close to his table and slamming a hand down against the surface. "This is about what you think about _me!_ "

"What exactly are you insinuating?" the prosecutor demanded as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms.

She was unsatisfied by the fact that Klavier still continued to act as though he didn't know what she was referring to. "You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about," she spat, glaring at him for a moment but continued with her own rant just because she could. "I know that I spoke out of turn at the concert the other night, but you didn't have to sic Prosecutor Payne on me so you could ruin my entire reputation! If you'd just fired me, I'd still come out of this looking better!"

For the first time all morning, Klavier's expression changed from its stern seriousness to amazed incredulousness. "You're angry with me for keeping you employed?" he asked in disbelief.

"You're conveniently leaving out the part where you _ruin my entire life._ "

"Be _quiet._ "

Klavier stood from his seat, his eyes blazing with fury. He was pissed, and for the first time since entering the room, Ema's attention was wholly on him. "You think I would do this to you for revenge? You think I would stoop so low as to try and ruin your career because you went against me?"

She was afraid to answer him, not because her answer was the affirmative, but because it _wasn't_ and her gut reaction had still been to assume the worst of him. It had seemed right until just now, considering his own outraged response to her accusation. Suddenly, Ema felt much less certain of her stance on the entire issue.

...They weren't back at the beginning, but some things took longer to change than others.

"N-no, I don't," she answered quietly, far more subdued than she had been only a minute ago. "But why else would you get me assigned to Prosecutor Payne? You work with him. You know as well as anyone how much of a liability he's become to the office."

Her calm seemed to settle Klavier as he sank back into his chair. He still looked considerably more aggravated than usual though. "I didn't have you assigned to him for any petty reason. Prosecutor Payne just happened to be the only one in need of a lead detective at the moment."

"You knew that, but you still had me transferred," Ema argued stubbornly.

"Because I thought we had learned to work well together, but I was wrong," he explained somewhat bitterly. "When it came down to our disagreement, it was apparent that your feelings about me haven't changed at all. That was when I knew we needed to work with different people."

The detective let the words sink in as she stared at him with wide eyes. She had been so, _so_ sure that what she'd done could only lead to one course of action; that was why the only explanation that occurred to her as the reason for Klavier transferring her had to be to worsen her punishment. That he had interpreted the situation in a different way had never even crossed her mind.

 _"I'm glad you're finally being honest about where your priorities lie!"_

Those had been her parting words with him before he walked on the stage that night. She'd been worried about him and angry that he had clearly been putting his concert over the state of his mental health. Ema had been so desperate to get him to put that guitar down and pay attention to his own wellbeing that she'd grasped for _anything_ that would've gotten him to stop, low blows included. Suddenly, his perspective on the issue appeared entirely too understandable.

Part of her was a little pleased to know that he cared about her opinion, but Ema banished that notion into the crevices of her mind when she knew she'd only gained that knowledge because he was _wrong_ about it. God, he was both right _and_ wrong _._ They _did_ work well together. She had never faked how she felt working alongside him and she _wanted_ to keep working with him. All this new information was making the situation distressing for a totally different reason altogether.

"We _do_ work well together!" Ema stated, pacing again. She had to make him understand, do her part to fix this because nothing was happening for the right reason. It vaguely occurred to her that she was fighting with a lawyer, someone whose livelihood depended on a winning argument. Even without the difference in authority, it was obvious how the prosecutor had gotten the upper hand in their last dispute. "Klavier, we've closed cases together. I put _my life_ on the line for you."

He was unconvinced. "And I appreciate that, but you were only doing your job. People can only hide their true convictions for so long."

"I didn't mean to say what I did," she said desperately.

"You still said it."

"Because I was _mad_ at you, not because I don't care about you!" she shouted in exasperation, stunning him into silence. She would've felt more victorious about getting Klavier to shut up if this situation wasn't so messed up. She barely even cared about what was pouring out of her right now as long as she could get him to realize how wrong he was. "Do you even _know_ what they teach you in the police academy? They teach you how to _avoid_ getting shot, so do you really think I'd jump in front of a gun for someone I _don't love?_ "

Ema was waiting impatiently for an answer from him, but he was staring at her blankly like she hadn't just spoken plain English. Then there was a long, pregnant silence.

Just as she was about to get fed up with waiting, Klavier spoke with that same bewildered expression on his face. "Apologies, fräulein, but I think I just had a hallucination."

" _What_ hallucination?" she asked, annoyed that he had changed the subject.

"I thought you said you love me."

She blinked, doing a double-take. Police academy...getting shot...guns, and then...

Ema groaned and rubbed her temples. So maybe her feelings for Klavier was going to play a greater part in this than she'd originally thought. As much as she wanted him to know absolutely nothing about her feelings, everything was already so messed up as it was. To lie would just create unnecessary obstacles for herself, and frankly, maintaining the lie would be more effort than it was worth.

"You're...not hallucinating," she stated reluctantly, unable to meet his eyes. "It's the truth. You know what I said. Don't make me say it again."

"You..." the prosecutor started. "You're..."

Finally, Ema worked up the courage to look at the man who barely ever struggled to find words. He was staring down at the table, an elbow resting on the surface as his hand raised slowly, obscuring part of his face. However, that didn't help much to mask the redness that was covering his cheeks.

"Are you _blushing?_ " she asked incredulously, taken off-guard. "Stop blushing!"

Upon this realization, she could feel her own face start heating up for multiple reasons. For one thing, she had just confessed love to a man, which was something she'd never done in her life, and she had taken it in stride until she saw his face. Now she was just embarrassed because Klavier seemed flustered, which was _also_ something that never happened. And then, of course, the rare expression he was wearing because of _her_ words immediately set her face on fire. To her horror, she was vaguely aware that this was the same reaction his fangirls had whenever Klavier looked in their direction.

This day was seriously the worst.

Unfortunately, Klavier seemed to be having just as much luck as she was trying to find his composure. His cheeks were still coloured and he looked slightly undone by the information that had just been presented to him. " _Mein gott_... Then you're serious? You really...?"

Apparently, the idea of restating her confession was even too much for him and he couldn't finish his sentence. This was ridiculous. The room was occupied by two awkward, blushing dorks and Ema couldn't believe she was one of them. She refused to let things continue on this way.

"Look, when I said those things the other night, I was just trying to stop you from playing the concert. I knew you weren't okay, regardless of what you said," Ema explained without acknowledging what had just taken place. Her face was still warm, but the situation was far from resolved. "My first instinct isn't to doubt you, Klavier. I just wanted to protect you."

The room was quiet as Ema watched her boss, contemplating her words as he stood up and moved to stand in front of the desk with her. He leaned back, crossing his arms. "I...believe you."

With things starting to finally move in a positive direction, she pushed a little more. "So you won't transfer me...?"

He swallowed audibly. "If that's truly how you feel, then I won't transfer you."

A wave of relief washed over her. She wouldn't have to work under Prosecutor Payne, and better, she could continue working with Klavier without worrying about her reputation being shot to hell. She couldn't help the smile that broke out on her face. Somehow, this had ended up being a much better outcome that she could have ever anticipated. "Thank you..."

She glanced at him and his eyes were on her, blushing with an uneasy look on his face again. Ema felt her face burn in response.

"Would you stop looking at me like that?" she demanded in embarrassment. "Hordes of women throw themselves at you on the daily, but _this_ makes you blush?"

Klavier rubbed the back of his neck in discomfort. "I know we became friends, Ema. I just never expected that _you_ of all people would..."

"Ugh, would you just say it? You were the last person I expected to fall in love with too, Gavin," she replied irritably. The detective took a couple steps back before spinning around to examine the books on his shelf. Now that he was on the same side of the table as her, she felt a little more self-conscious about her feelings. "And it's not your stupid charm or your looks or your terrible fashion sense either. But...when it's just the two of us, when we talk...I feel like I'm not—"

"—alone," Klavier finished for her, causing her to redden further. So although he had never made a mention of that night he'd been so inebriated, he remembered all of it just as well as she did. They had been enjoying each others' presence long before that, but that night had been the one she felt like she'd connected with Klavier more than any other. "I feel the same way, Ema."

He wasn't suddenly confessing his love too, but he was admitting he felt something between them as well. That in itself sent her heart rate skyrocketing and she couldn't bear to turn around and face him. They were both too vulnerable and Ema didn't trust herself not to act on her emotions if she saw him looking like that. Inwardly, she scolded herself for being a coward.

"Then...what do you want to do?"

Her finger froze on the spine of a book, completely unprepared for the question he'd just posed. Figuring out her feelings for Klavier last night had seemed completely irrelevant in light of their meeting today, but they had made all the difference in the last fifteen minutes. She really hadn't thought any further on what she would do with those feelings, let alone what she _wanted_ to do if he ever became aware of them. And it was pretty safe to say that Klavier was very aware of them.

Everything had turned out to be so messy, but she had stopped things from changing too much. All she knew was that she didn't want things to change much more. She and Klavier could be friends again; she didn't want to consider the possibility for anything more than just that. Contrary to what Lana thought, Ema was perfectly happy being on her own.

"I want to go to work tomorrow and pretend like none of this ever happened," she replied dryly, mostly because it was the truth, but partly because she just didn't feel like dealing with any of this anymore.

"Okay."

Surprised, she turned to look at him, fingers still on the shelf. With that blush finally gone, he looked quite sober in his response. She was serious about what she wanted, but she hadn't quite expected to hear him agree quite so easily to her request.

"If that's what you want, I will do my best to act as if this never happened," he stated quietly, arms crossed in contemplation.

Ema didn't know if she had ever seen Klavier quite so subdued before, but it was making her uncomfortable. She shifted in her spot, unable to find the words to respond. If he was expecting her to say something else, he certainly didn't wait for her to do so.

"I'm sure you still have the police report to complete from the night of the concert, so you're dismissed. Please send in Herr Spex on your way out."

That was it? It seemed almost cold-hearted, the way he was talking to her after all that. Then again, this was what she'd asked for. Once the initial shock of her confession wore off, it appeared that Klavier was able to jump right back into the usual business. There was absolutely zero indication that anything had even happened between them over the last couple of days.

Nodding, Ema headed towards the door.

"Miss Skye?" he called after her and she paused for a moment to look back, her heart clenching painfully at the address. Klavier smiled. "I look forward to working with you."

The corners of her lips lifted gently despite the conflict within her. "Let's close some cases, Gavin."

She let herself out of the office and directed her colleague who had been waiting outside (and probably wondering what the hell was going on since he'd been out there for an abnormally lengthy amount of time, and that was if he hadn't heard all the yelling) back into the room. Things couldn't have turned out any better for her; by all means, Ema knew she should be soaring out of that room, but she wasn't. She'd gotten everything she wanted, right? Why wasn't she just _happy?_ Ema was convinced that nothing she'd done back there was anything she regretted.

The forensic investigator strode through the halls of the Prosecutors Office, quashing any feelings of doubt. This was what she wanted. To go to work in the morning, perform the will of science, and close cases with a friend. A _friend._ Because all that stupid love drama was over.

Yeah, definitely over.


	10. Rules and Guidelines are Basically the S

**Author's Note:** Wow! What an outpouring of support I've gotten for this fic. I'm super flattered and very glad people are enjoying this. Thanks for all the feedback! This chapter should show you where this story is going, because I think it's pretty damn obvious where it's going.

* * *

 **Titration** by HawkofNavarre

 **Chapter 10**

 _ **Rules and Guidelines are Basically the Same Thing, Right?**_

* * *

For the first time in days, Ema set foot in a crime scene rather than a courthouse. She hadn't seen much of Klavier since their discussion in his office other than for testimony prep, and so far, everything seemed to be going well between them. When they spoke at the courthouse, conversations remained strictly business, but there was no animosity between them. From her perspective, the prosecutor was doing pretty well in keeping up with what he'd agreed to.

She did, however, wonder if things would be different now that they wouldn't strictly be going over testimony.

Ema knelt down to inspect the woman's dead body herself. The corpse lay face down beside the open driver's side door of her car, clad in bloodstained scrubs. There was a single stab wound in her back from a fairly small knife, but the location of the wound indicated that the murderer was either smart or experienced from the way they had punctured her heart.

"Detective Skye, the car's clean of prints. Nothing inside seems out of the ordinary either," Dayton said as he walked up beside her. He was still annoying, shooting her hopeful looks and searching for an in every time they worked together, but at least he was good at his job.

"Okay, so we need to find the murder weapon or all our evidence is circumstantial," the detective stated, biting her lip in contemplation. "Unless we have solid proof there was someone else here last night, our prime suspect is the other nurse."

"The one the victim was seen arguing with?" the other forensic investigator asked.

"Exactly," she replied with a nod. "I want to make an arrest today." She turned to a nearby officer. "Okay, I want a search done over a three-block radius for the murder weapon, and I want that nurse found. We need to know if he had an alibi and what that argument was about."

She discussed the possibilities of the type of knife used with Dayton just based on the size of the wound as the crime scene started being cleaned up. It was then that Klavier showed up to see what was going on.

"She was stabbed from behind as she was opening the car door. She was seen earlier in the night arguing with her colleague and we can't find him now. We're not entirely sure of the motive yet, but he's our only suspect. We're looking for the murder weapon right now," Ema explained as she typed on her tablet. Sidling up next to the prosecutor, she angled her device towards her boss. "You can take a look at the video of them arguing."

She thought she might be imagining it, but Klavier seemed to shift away from her slightly as he viewed the footage. Shaking it off, she waited for the video to end. "So? What do you think? If we can't find a murder weapon but get the motive, then do you think you have enough evidence to convict?"

There was a particularly loud shriek from a girl standing near the crime scene, obviously a fan of Klavier, but he visibly cringed when he heard her. While she found these girls annoying as hell, she had more or less gotten ignoring the noise they made down to an art. Klavier, who was more inclined to come to investigate for himself now, generally acknowledged them when he arrived and then went about his day as if they were just his personal cheerleaders, quieting them if they got a little too rowdy. Today, he seemed oddly wary of them. They way he had reacted to that louder scream concerned her a little. That wasn't like him at all.

"It certainly won't be a hit with the jury, but a conviction is definitely possible. As long as we thoroughly investigate all the avenues the defence might go down, we should be able to build a fairly solid case," the former rock star answered, a hand on his temple as if he had a headache.

Dayton nodded. "Well, the sooner we get the official autopsy report, the sooner I'll be able to identify the exact type of knife we're looking for, assuming it isn't found before then."

"While you're waiting for that, you can look over her clothes back at the lab. Maybe there's something we missed out here," she commanded her subordinate, happy to get him out of her hair. "In the meantime, I'll run a background check on our suspect. The other officers are getting statements from our victim's coworkers."

Klavier still looked stressed out and honestly seemed more concerned about himself than the case at hand. Sure, he had a massive ego, but he always committed himself fully to his work. She had to get to the bottom of this unusual behaviour.

"Prosecutor Gavin, you look like you could use some coffee," Ema said as she stashed her tablet in her bag. "I'm on my way now. You can come with me."

 _"Oh? Fräulein Detective is asking me out on a date?"_ or something flirty along those lines is what she expected to hear, but instead Klavier just sent her a puzzled look. "I don't think that's necessary."

"Ema, I could—"

"Dayton, I asked you to process some evidence, didn't I?" she cut him off mid-sentence before he could capitalize on the opportunity.

He blinked a couple of times, stunned to silence and Ema felt an immense amount of satisfaction at actually shutting him down today. Initial rejection was generally followed by frustrating levels of persistence. Judging by the defeated look on his face, there would be none of that today. To her delight, the male shut his mouth and headed back towards the car to pack up his tool kit.

"That was impressive, fräulein," Klavier told her, looking a little amazed by her accomplishment.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't about to let him worm his way into spending time with me. _You're_ coming to coffee with me," the detective stated, leaving no room for argument. Secretly, she was also a little amazed at herself for doing what had never been done before, but she had another job to attend to.

Again, he hesitated. "Really, it's not necessary."

She shot him a withering look. "Either you come with me or I go over there and tell all your fans that you use women's shampoo," Ema threatened as she gestured to the crowd behind the tape. She had gathered the most useful information that one night she had stayed in his condo and it seemed like a good opportunity to use it.

His mouth hung open for a second, then he started to follow after her as she strode away from the crime scene. "You can be very cruel when you want to be," Klavier commented with the shake of his head, "and for the record, all my other shower products are for males. The shampoo just keeps my hair healthy."

The forensic investigator sighed at his defensiveness. There was no stopping his vanity. "I could care less about your beauty routine. We're going to a coffee shop. You're driving and I'm paying, got it?"

He didn't protest, merely nodding and guiding her to his car.

* * *

It didn't quite all go as planned, but it was close enough. Although she managed to get Klavier into the coffeehouse, she made the mistake of putting in her drink order before him so he had the chance to jump in and pay for both. Realizing there was little she could do about that, Ema accepted the beverage a little begrudgingly and dragged her boss over to a table as soon as possible. There were more pressing matters to deal with than rejecting chivalry.

She slammed herself down in a chair. "Okay, something's up with you."

He sat down across from her, raising an eyebrow. "Is that a fact?"

"Of _course,_ " Ema replied emphatically. They were little things she had noticed, but they were still quite significant. "I haven't forgotten about how shaken up you were after being held at gunpoint. It's only been a week since then."

Klavier didn't say anything, leaning back in his chair and examining his coffee cup with great interest. She knew she had him at this point. All work issues aside, it didn't change the events of what had occurred that night. Ema had a lot more experience in the area. Years of police work had hardened her to possibility of getting shot. She had even taken a bullet to the abdomen once—though she had been wearing Kevlar and left with nothing more than a really nasty bruise and a bad memory—but psychologically, someone trying to kill you was a traumatizing thing. There was a reason she had blocked the SL-9 incident out of her memories as a child.

"You didn't treat your fans like you normally would today, and you're the guy who still played a concert after nearly being shot. You've even been shying away from them at the courthouse," she said gently, not wanting her observation to sound like an accusation. She wanted to encourage him to open up about the issue because it was the only way he would begin to heal. "Don't act like it's not true. You couldn't even look at them when you walked onto the scene."

"It's really nothing to be concerned about, fräulein," Klavier dismissed her as he took a sip of his macchiato, avoiding her eyes.

Her frustration skyrocketed in an instant. "You know, you can talk to me now or I can talk to my friend, Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth, and let him know you need another appointment with Dr. Rhinke."

If he wasn't so keen to look at her before, he was now. His expression was fully aggravated, eyes sharp. "I think you need to learn how unattractive it is to keep threatening people, Miss Skye."

Startled, Ema blinked, mouth partially open as she shrunk back into her seat. _Shit._ She really had flown off the handle there, much faster than she ever expected from herself, but she couldn't help it. She was worried about him and when he wouldn't let her help him, she looked for the quickest possible way to fix that. Unfortunately, that was what had gotten her in trouble in the first place. Clearly the lesson hadn't been hammered into her quite yet.

Lucky for her, Klavier seemed to understand that. He didn't retaliate like he had last time, maybe because he realized she was only reacting because she cared.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, swallowing. The words felt strange out of her mouth, especially when they were directed towards her boss. The last time she'd ever said that to Klavier was after the Misham trial, and that was because she had truly felt for him in what he'd been going through. "I shouldn't pry if you don't want me to."

Instead, his expression relaxed and he placed his cup down, sighing. "You really are oddly skilled at extracting information from me," the prosecutor conceded. He was silent for a moment and she thought that was going to be the end of the conversation, but he continued. "You're right, fräulein. I haven't been treating my fans with the respect they deserve. That incident...has been weighing heavier on me than I want to admit. I pushed to play that night because I beginning to remember how good things used to be. I thought that by pretending everything was fine, they would be. Yet here we are..."

"It was my fault," Ema told him, her tone remorseful. Now that she wasn't angry with him, she definitely saw the flaws in her own security plans. For a woman to be able to get backstage to Klavier so easily meant that she had made some major errors in judgement that day. She might've wallowed in self-pity if he'd gotten shot, but he was alive and her own mistakes only made her want to protect him more. She had a gun, a pretty decent roundhouse kick, and a mean right hook she could use to lay out anyone who tried to get at him again. Mental scars, however, were another issue. "I noticed her a bunch of times, but I just brushed her off as another fan even though that look in her eyes was different from everyone else that surrounds you."

"She hated me. She _hates_ me. She wanted to kill me," Klavier said, gritting his teeth. "I keep thinking maybe there's another who wants to do the same."

She kept silent because she didn't know how to comfort him. She didn't have thousands of adoring fans clamouring after her night and day. People didn't pay attention to her when she was walking across the street, let alone care enough to want to kill her. He was battling very reasonable paranoia that she had never experienced before.

"I wasn't ignorant coming into this profession. I knew my work was likely to gain me enemies one day," he explained with a grim expression. "Seeing that become a reality, though... It's harder than I expected."

"Sometimes...justice comes at a price. More for some of us than others," Ema replied.

Klavier chuckled bitterly. "You'd think I would have paid enough of a price by now, ja? I've lost my brother, one of my best friends, and my band to justice. Now a woman tries to kill me and still I continue to chase it."

"Searching for the truth is part of who you are. You told me that yourself. That's something you can't change." She reached across the table, grabbing one of his hands wrapped loosely around the cup. Ema hated seeing him so despondent, lost because something he had always been appreciative of had been tainted. He had been doing those concerts just to get rid of the scars Daryan had left on him and she was angry that there was yet another trauma he had to deal with on top of that. She was even angrier that it was because of something she could've prevented.

She would not let something like that happen ever again.

Ema squeezed his hand in her own, staring fiercely into his eyes. "But I'm going to be with you. If someone _ever_ tries to come after you like that again, I'm going to shut them down the same way I did last time," she declared, fully meaning every word that came out of her mouth. "Your fans love you. As annoying as they are, don't let one person change how you treat them."

He nodded mutely, then pulled his hand away from hers looking a little uncomfortable. "I'll try. I appreciate that, fräulein."

The forensic investigator frowned. Klavier would always be the best at throwing her emotions wildly out of whack. A second ago, she had been entirely resolute, delivering a little speech that would convey her conviction in her proclamation to him. Basically, it was a grand gesture that was followed by a lackluster response, which honestly left her feeling a bit offended. Even his gratitude didn't seem all that genuine. It was frustrating, to say the least.

"Okay..." Ema started, her voice quieting significantly. She took a sip of her coffee to prepare herself for the next confrontation. "Then let's move on to the next subject."

"You mean that wasn't the end of this interrogation?" he groaned, very obviously less than eager to continue with the conversation.

"Klavier, it's not _just_ your fans that you've been weird around. It's _me_ too, and I seriously doubt you're afraid of me," she pushed. She wasn't quite satisfied with his answer yet. His trauma when it came to his near-death experience didn't bear any negative association with her. She had been the one to save him, and that certainly wasn't supposed to be a bad thing. The detective thought everything was going well between the two of them so far, but that didn't seem to be the case on his end.

"I'm not afraid of you," he replied dryly, as if the very idea of that was ludicrous, "I'm just trying to stay within the boundaries of the agreement we made and you're making that very difficult today."

Ema blinked in confusion. How was _she_ the one making anything difficult? She was the one who'd had to drag him to a coffee shop since he was being twitchy all morning. It had already been quite an obstacle getting him to cooperate with her in the first place. Trying to get him to open up to her had been even more troublesome, and she had nearly screwed that up by letting her temper get out of hand. It was pretty clear that she was not the one being difficult in this particular situation. She hadn't even had one thought about him that didn't stay within the context of platonic feelings today!

"I think we're fine," Ema said with a shrug. It definitely bothered her more that Klavier was acting strangely around her in the aftermath of their agreement. "Those trials went well and we're already making good headway on this case."

"I'm not talking about work. I'm talking about _this,_ " the prosecutor replied with emphasis, gesturing between them. Even then, Ema had no idea what he was referring to. He seemed to pick up on that quickly and began to elaborate. "We are alone in a coffee shop that you asked me to come to, fräulein. I can't imagine this is something that would have happened a few weeks ago."

Finally, she understood where he was coming from. She had set boundaries with her request, but outside of never mentioning that her confession had ever happened, they had never really defined the extent of their current relationship. Ema thought that all this was perfectly fine. She didn't see anything wrong with talking to a friend one-on-one or trying to protect them. Evidently, he thought something like this would violate their agreement and that was why he was being so distant.

"We're still friends, and this is what friends do," Ema assured him, trying to put him at ease. "We haven't done anything today that normal friends wouldn't."

"You're certain of that?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow, though it was more of a statement than question.

It was then that she remembered the feel of his hand in hers only moments ago. Embarrassed by her own transgression, she withdrew the hand resting on the table and cupped it around her coffee while trying as hard as she could to stave the heat away from her face. She'd been so caught up in the passion of her words that she'd acted without even realizing it. Meanwhile, he was being so overly cautious it was ridiculous.

Nonetheless, she refused to let him know he was right. Excessively formal Klavier was too weird to deal with and she would not lose her upper hand. Stubbornly, Ema pretended as if the whole handholding incident never happened and nodded at him firmly. "Don't change how you act around me just because of what happened. You don't have to police your behaviour. I'll let you know if something ever crosses the line."

Klavier gave her a long stare as if he was considering whether he was okay with this. "...Alright, Ema," he agreed hesitantly.

It suddenly dawned on her that he kept calling her "fräulein" again when he had developed the habit of genuinely using her first name since last month. She felt herself warm hearing the smooth way he spoke her name. It was definitely something she hadn't realized she missed.

Despite the pleasure she derived from hearing her given name coming from his lips, Ema brushed off the notion that it might be something that was too intimate between friends. The thought was ludicrous. The majority of people she knew, outside of standard professionalism, called her by her first name because it was normal; just because Klavier had spent years calling her everything _but_ that didn't make the shift anything special. Ema was her name and he was using it. That was all.

There was a buzz in her pocket and Ema shook off her tangent of thought. Setting down her cup, she fished her phone out of her lab coat and glanced at the screen. Her eyes widened as she read the message. "Well, we have a motive."

Klavier leaned forward with interest and Ema slid her chair over next to his. This time, she noted, he didn't move away. "We asked the victim's supervisor to look into the nurse our victim was arguing with and they just found out that he altered the prescription of one of the residents at the care home," she explained as she scrolled down through the text.

"Only one?" her superior asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Only one," Ema repeated in confirmation. "The medication is a sedative. If I had to guess, this guy has information that's important to someone, but his life is as well. They're keeping him alive, but making sure he can't speak."

"We'll need a reassessment of his medications and a protective detail around him," Klavier suggested. He didn't seem so uncomfortable anymore as their discussion parked firmly on the subject of work. He had that serious look on his face that indicated the cogs in his analytical brain were turning. "It could be nothing, but he could very well be worth silencing if—"

Ema's phone began to vibrate in her palm, the ringtone drifting out through the speakers. She tried her hardest not to cringe at song, remembering how she had changed her ringtone to The Guitar's Serenade after Edgeworth's birthday party. Having Klavier murmuring the tune so close to her ear had somehow gotten it stuck in her head. After holding his hand today, she was sure her ringtone choice was not helping her case, even if Klavier had already agreed with her.

She didn't look at him to see if he had acknowledged it and swiftly answered her phone. Her thoughts were quickly diverted elsewhere when she heard the frantic voice on the other side of the line. Her eyes widened as she listened, her jaw dropping.

"Wait, wait! Slow down! Say that again, and please tell me you're joking." The detective clutched her coffee cup tighter, a small indent appearing under her thumb. "...You're serious. Okay...then. I'll be at the scene in ten minutes."

She stared at the table blankly in disbelief of what she'd just heard as she ended the call.

"Was that about the case?" Klavier asked, looking concerned.

Ema nodded, then rubbed her temple with her left hand. "Yeah. They found the murder weapon. And our suspect. He's dead. They're calling it suicide."

He was quite visibly just as stunned by the news as she'd been. However, he was back to business in an instant. "All the more reason to protect the man they were silencing." Sighing, the prosecutor stood with a apprehensive expression. "Let's go. I can drive you to the crime scene."

She complied without a word and began to follow him out of the coffee shop. Things felt more natural now that Klavier was no longer acting distant from her, but this case was turning out to be more troubling than she'd expected. She had a really bad feeling about this.

Ema watched his back as the uneasiness mounted while they headed for his car. The urge to reach out and grab his hand struck her—for her own comfort this time rather than his—but she resisted; seeking the calming touch his skin would offer her wouldn't be right. After all, they were just friends.


	11. You Weren't Afraid Of Dying In a Fiery B

**Author's Note:** If you're seeing this update, then congratulations on still being alive! Living is hard stuff. Writer's block had to end at some point (by which I mean I forced it to end with great effort), meaning I finally managed to finish this fic. Updates will be more regular again...if they were ever regular to begin with.

As always, thank you for the feedback!

* * *

 **Titration** by HawkofNavarre

 **Chapter 11**

 _ **You Weren't Afraid of Dying In A Fiery Blaze?**_

* * *

"You're kidding, right?"

"I'm afraid not. This is what you agreed to, fräulein."

It had been a terrible mistake, Ema realized, to ask Klavier for a ride to Trucy's premiering magic show at Penrose Theater while she was placing samples in the centrifuge. She thought she was pretty good at multitasking, but that was now proven to be at least partially wrong considering she was standing inside the precinct parking lot with a high speed death machine in front of her. Klavier was standing a couple of paces away, helmets under either arm.

She was going back through the conversation they'd had last night. Since their decision to go on as colleagues and friends, Ema didn't feel so bad asking him for favours anymore. It hadn't taken her long after receiving the call from Mr. Wright inviting her to Trucy's new show to come to the conclusion that a ride from the prosecutor would be the easiest way to get there. A taxi would cost a pretty penny. Public transportation in their area was cheaper, but also a major headache. When she thought of the allure of Klavier's pretty car and comfortable seats, there was absolutely no competition.

And so she had asked, assuming that he was driving his car today and not really paying attention to exactly what he had said before, "Is that alright with you?" The scientific procedure had definitely been the priority at that moment, but she was now inwardly berating herself for not simply finishing her work and _then_ calling him. Making the call as an afterthought had been her downfall.

After being the one to ask for the ride _and_ agree to transportation via guaranteed murder vehicle while half-heartedly listening, Ema could hardly complain about this. She had to accept the consequences of her actions.

Swallowing, she worked up the nerve to move forward and take the helmet that Klavier had brought for her. Judging by the knowing smile on his face, it was clear that Klavier knew what was going on in her head. Heck, he had probably sensed she hadn't been paying much attention during that phone call and was going on a mental victory lap at getting her on this dangerous hunk of metal. Not one to back down from a challenge, especially one that had presented itself due to her own irresponsibility, she eased the helmet onto her head. She immediately hated how it compressed the hair tied at the back of her head and how little visibility she had out of her periphery.

"I hate this thing already," she grumbled, making sure to project her voice enough to be heard from underneath the helmet.

Klavier only grinned at her and patted the top of her helmet as he passed her, leaving her huffing in her helmet. She felt her breath circulate back at her, momentarily trapped within the head gear.

"I promise, this will be the ride of your life," he said with a wink, mounting his bike before he pulled his own helmet on.

Ema rolled her eyes at the innuendo. She crossed her arms and followed him over before glaring hard at the seat she was supposed to occupy. The detective couldn't believe she was about to do this. Not only did she feel ridiculous with her oversized head that threatened to send her tumbling in whichever direction she happened to lean too far towards, but she was going to _die_ in the stupid thing. Motorcycle accidents were more likely to occur than car accidents, and with her luck, she was definitely going to get in one. When Klavier was making jokes about it being the "ride of her life," he was really alluding to the fact that this was probably going to be the last ride she ever took before her untimely death.

"You'd better not be the reason I die, Gavin," Ema muttered as she grabbed onto his shoulders and took a seat behind him despite everything in her that was screaming at her not to do this.

"Hmph," was all he snickered in reply and she suddenly realized the irony of her statement. Only a few weeks ago, it had been entirely possible for him to be the reason she died.

Making no further comment, Ema wrapped her arms around the prosecutor's torso and wound her eyes shut as the engine roared to life beneath her. Her fingers tightened their hold on his leather jacket.

"Scientifically speaking," she grumbled, trying hard not to thinking about the statistics running through her mind, "this is a terrible idea."

* * *

When Klavier eventually parked them in the garage of the theater, Ema felt fuzzy with adrenaline from the ride. She almost felt like she was floating when she got off the bike. She couldn't believe she was even stepping off the thing _alive._ Every time Klavier had made a turn, they had gotten uncomfortably close to the ground. Ema was sure she didn't want to know what the ground felt like unless her feet were firmly planted on it.

"So, not as bad as you thought, right?" he questioned her with a wide grin as he pulled off his helmet. Despite it covering his entire head, his hair remained impeccable after it was removed.

"It was _exactly_ as bad as I thought it would be," she retorted shakily, taking off her own helmet. She found her hair tie falling out and her bangs swept in odd directions after doing so. In her annoyance, she pulled the hair tie the rest of the way off and tried to rearrange her hair. Alien Gavin struck again with his perfectly unaffected locks. "Do you have a death wish or something? I can't believe how fast you were going!" Ema continued in distress.

Klavier blinked at her and then broke into a laugh. "Ema, I was barely going five miles over the speed limit!"

"Please, it's more likely you're so used to your crazy driving you couldn't even tell," Ema shot back, unconvinced.

"Did your life flash before your eyes?" he asked in a mocking tone and Ema only shoved him in response. "Come. Fräulein Wright has graciously allowed us to leave our bike gear in her dressing room."

She glanced around, only now realizing that they were in the parking garage rather than the main lot outside. "Special treatment?"

"I suppose," the male answered as he began heading for the door which she assumed led into the back of the theater. She didn't see anyone else other than staff around anyway. "It would cause quite the stir if I were spotted in front of the building."

"You're not wearing any disguise," she pointed out.

"Ah, and that is what we call 'promotion,' my dear _detektiv_. If I'm seen outside, it turns into a hassle, but seen during the show? Well, it would be rude to interrupt the performance, so I am spotted during Fräulein Wright's premier performance and news of her show is put in tabloids everywhere," he reasoned, holding the door open for her.

"Clever," she responded, genuinely impressed. "That's really nice of you."

"She is a talented hard worker whose shows I enjoy. I see no reason not to help, especially after what happened last year."

Ema nodded, recalling the murder that had occurred at Trucy's show last year. She'd been the head detective on that one while working with Prosecutor Sahdmadhi, and she had practically snacked herself to death knowing she was building a case against Mr. Wright's daughter. Luckily, Apollo had run a magnificent defence, picking up on some things she'd missed and Trucy was ultimately declared innocent. Still, she was sure the whole incident had been rather traumatic for the young magician, it being her first full-scale show and entrance into the world of the media. Ema would be surprised if Trucy ever trusted TV executives ever again. She was really glad that the girl had someone like Klavier back her up.

The corridors inside the theater hadn't changed at all since she'd last been there. Creamy white walls greeted them as they made their way to Trucy's dressing room. Outside her door, there were various props like flowers and fairy wings painted in pinks and vibrant greens to reflect the theme of the show. If Ema remembered correctly, it was called _Lost in Enchantment_ and was going to be about a young girl who got lost in a magical forest searching for her runaway kitten.

Klavier knocked at the door which was promptly answered by a male clad in red. Ema peeked around her companion and immediately found herself beaming.

"Apollo! You're back!"

"Herr Forehead! It's about time!"

The hot-blooded lawyer looked a little bashful at the zealous greetings, running his hand over his hair in embarrassment. "H-hello to you too, Detective Skye, Prosecutor Gavin..."

Ema gave her friend a quick hug before Klavier slung his arm over Apollo's shoulders. It was clear that Apollo felt there was some serious over-familiarity with the gesture judging by his sour face. She had to stifle her laugh at his obvious displeasure as Klavier asked whether the legal system in Khura'in was treating him well.

"Detective Skye! You made it!" she heard from within the room.

The detective shoved past the younger males to see Trucy Wright in a white dress and red-hooded cloack come scurrying through her dressing room, dodging the props that littered the floor with practiced ease. Ema was sure she'd never seen so many artificial flowers in her life. Even the two black foldable chairs were covered in plastic foliage.

"Congratulations on your show, Trucy. Thanks for the invitation," Ema greeted the magician.

Trucy's eyes quickly landed on the helmet she was holding, eyes widening. "Wow! You actually rode on Mr. Gavin's motorcycle?"

"You did _what?_ " Apollo exploded incredulously, Klavier still hanging over his shoulders.

" _Ja_ , all the way from the police station," Klavier answered for her as he finally removed himself from the lawyer. He brandished his headwear with pride, Apollo gaping.

"Mr. Gavin!" The teenager skipped over to him cheerfully. "Thank you for the flowers! I put them on the stage," she told him eagerly. "You can leave your things in the back."

Klavier took the helmet from Ema and moved to the back of the dressing room to begin removing his leathers, thanking Trucy as he did so. Meanwhile, both Trucy and Apollo closed in on her like hungry wolves. She took a nervous step back from the advancing pair. With the way they were looking at her, they almost appeared to be siblings to her for a moment.

"Are you crazy?" Apollo demanded, still in disbelief. "You got on a motorcycle?"

"What was it like?" Trucy followed up in excitement. Clearly these two were not on the same page at all.

"Uh, it was pretty scary," she replied a little hesitantly. They were getting a bit too intense for her taste. "It wasn't like I had much of a choice. I kind of...accidentally agreed to it."

Trucy sighed dramatically, a dreamy smile on her face. "Imagine what sort of tricks I could do on a motorcycle! I wonder if daddy would let me take lessons..."

"Don't you have a show to prepare for?" Apollo hastily cut into her thoughts, looking panicked. "Detective Skye and I will get out of your way. Prosecutor Gavin can catch up with us when he's done."

 _Well, I guess we know who wants out,_ Ema thought as she followed a worried Apollo out of the room before Trucy even had a chance to reply.

"Mr. Wright would _never_ forgive me if he knew I was there when Trucy got the idea to ride motorcycles and didn't do anything to stop it," he groaned as he led her down the hall.

"I'm sure her magic will keep her preoccupied," she placated him. "So you finally got some time off in Khura'in?"

He nodded, expression weary. "It was a lot of hard work, but we finally managed to get a lot of the false convictions overturned for the defence attorneys that used to practice law. Most people are justifiably angry, but there's a surprising number of attorneys who wanted to return to law. With them back in action, I managed to finally take a break to come and watch Trucy's show."

"Boss Apollo," Ema said in amusement.

He ran his hand over his hair spike again sheepishly as his cheeks coloured. "I-it's a little strange to be in charge of so many people that are my seniors."

She shrugged. "You're good at what you do and you're the one that got them out. I think that's all those lawyers really care about."

"Thanks, I guess..." he replied, still pink at the compliment. "Nahyuta was disappointed you didn't come back to work with him."

Ema contained her sigh as they reached the auditorium of the theater. Apollo led the way to their seats, her mind turning to the difficult decision she'd had to make a few months back. A lot had changed since then. She had recognized her feelings for Klavier, saved his life, subsequently gotten into a terrible fight with him, confessed to him after nearly being transferred to the most arrogant prosecutor in their district, and now was slowly working to get things back to normal, all while closing numerous cases with that same man. It was still crazy to think that she had somehow chosen Klavier and fall _in love_ with him instead of throwing herself back into work in another country.

"Well, maybe the next time you take a vacation, you should bring him back too," she suggested, not wanting to make a big deal out of the issue as they took their seats nears the front of the stage. "I haven't seen him in a long time. If things slow down enough, it'd be good for both of you to take a break."

Apollo chuckled. "Honestly, I don't think Nahyuta minds all the work. Rayfa tries her best, but her ideas definitely cause him way more stress than any legal case ever could. He's patient, though. Whenever she makes a mistake, he just says to—"

"' _Let it go and move on_ ,'" a low voice interjected, and Ema could've sworn the prosecutor she previously worked with was standing behind her.

She whipped around only to see Athena cracking a wide grin.

"Jeez, Athena! I almost thought he was really here!" Apollo groaned. "You have to stop doing that!"

"I've been calling Apollo in my Prosecutor Sahdmadhi voice for the last two months and it works every time," Athena told her in a conspiratorially hushed tone.

"Oh _ha ha._ It stopped being funny the first time," the elder attorney sulked, crossing his arms in irritation.

Athena moved to the seat beside Apollo's and hopped over into their row. "When did you get here, Detective Skye? Boss and I didn't wanna interrupt Trucy's preparations, so we took the bus here pretty early, but we didn't see you," she stated as she settled down next to her former coworker.

She opened her mouth to reply, but Apollo beat her to it. "She came through the back with Prosecutor Gavin. They came on his motorcycle," he supplied quickly, obviously expecting Athena to be just as shocked as he was about her choice of transportation.

" _No way!_ " Athena shouted, bouncing out of her seat energetically. "That must've been so awesome!"

"Not you too..." Apollo groaned.

"Oh, come _on_ , Apollo! Can't you see how cool motorcycles are?"

"I should've expected this," he muttered mostly to himself.

However, that didn't stop Athena. She clasped her hands together, eyes shining. "And with a hunk like Prosecutor Gavin!"

Apollo's brow furrowed and Ema couldn't tell if it was because he was jealous or really just disliked his rival prosecutor that much.

"I mean, racing down the streets holding onto a rock star, the wind blowing through your hair, the adrenaline pumping through your veins, and _whoosh!_ " She threw a couple of punches into the air. "You're breaking the sound barrier! Going faster than the speed of light! It's like the coolest thing ever!"

Ema stared at the glowing lawyer for a second, wondering if she knew the laws of physics or even how a motorcycle worked. Next to her, Apollo looked equally as dumbfounded. If there was anything either of them could take from that, it was that Athena definitely seemed more enamoured with the bike and the thrill of being on it than anything else; Klavier seemed more like an afterthought in her monologue.

"I don't think motorcycles can go fast enough to break the sound barrier," Apollo drawled, unmoved by her passionate rant, "but other than that, not all of us are thrill-seekers like you."

She shrugged, evidently unaffected by Apollo's opinion. "It would be way more fun than walking or taking the bus."

"What, my methods of transportation aren't fancy enough for you?"

This time, Ema was surprised to see Phoenix Wright walking towards them through the aisle, Miles Edgeworth behind him. She quickly stood up to greet the two men she had the most respect for. "Mr. Wright! Mr. Edgeworth! Good evening!"

Phoenix smiled, apparently a little amused by her manners while his childhood friend nodded at her in acknowledgement. She didn't care if it made her look rigid and desperate to impress; this was her idol Miles Edgeworth in her presence!

"Ema rode here on Prosecutor Gavin's motorcycle," Apollo commented informatively, evidently looking for someone who would share his views.

"You _did?_ " Mr. Wright asked in astonishment. "Y-you weren't afraid of dying in a fiery blaze?"

"Contain your exaggeration, Wright. Prosecutor Gavin is a competent driver," the chief prosecutor stated. "Besides, if Detective Skye wishes to ride on motorcycles, then it isn't any of our places to judge her."

"H-hey now, I never really wanted to ride it. I would've really preferred to ride in a car, even if the motorcycle wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," the forensic detective explained. She didn't want Edgeworth to think she was some sort of daredevil.

"In that case, I could give you a ride home after the show if you're more comfortable that way," Edgeworth offered gracefully, rendering her momentarily speechless.

"Or I'll be waiting for Trucy to clean up, but we'll be taking a cab home later. You're welcome to join us," Phoenix added generously.

"And Athena and I are heading in the other direction after the show, if that works better for you," Apollo joined in.

"I even brought Snackoos just in case I get hungry!" the female lawyer piped up.

Suddenly it seemed like it had been a bad idea to say anything about the bike. She had only meant to answer their questions honestly, but now she was in the middle of a bunch of offers for rides home. It was embarrassing, really, that everyone was so eager to get her where she needed to go. Ema didn't want to be rude at all, though it was hard not to accept when her most admired figure was the one who wanted to drive her home. She opened her mouth to reply...

...And then Klavier Gavin showed up, giving a little wave to their group before he sat down next to Edgeworth and began to small talk with his boss.

"No, it's fine," she said in response, tearing her eyes away from the prosecutor. "I wouldn't want to impose."

"Are you sure? It wouldn't be a problem," Phoenix assured her.

"I'm sure," Ema replied firmly with a nod. "I mean, it was more interesting than scary, now that I think about it—you know, being on the motorcycle. It was a unique experience. Science makes it run, you know."

"That was a pretty quick change of heart," Apollo noted as he rubbed at his wrist. Maybe that bracelet he was always wearing was finally making him itchy.

"Lots of people change their minds," was all she could counter with.

Apollo seemed to consider this for a couple seconds, still rubbing at his wrist, then shot a look at his former coworker who only shrugged. "Guess so."

The lights dimmed, signaling the start of the production. Ema turned her attention forward despite mentally kicking herself. She probably would've accepted at least one of those offers (most likely the chief prosecutor) if Klavier hadn't shown up right then, but the moment she saw him, that decision flew right out the window. His stupid "hog" was no more enjoyable to her than it had been half an hour ago, yet the sight of him warmed her and she yearned for the easy banter they always shared. She'd been with him for most of the day already, but things had been going so well between them lately that she didn't think it was right to ditch him after he did her a favour at the first opportunity.

She wasn't needy, nor was she the clingy kind of girl, but the thought of coming with him and leaving without him seemed wrong somehow. She had _ethics!_ It wasn't like Ema looking for any reason to turn down time with friends to spend it with him. And...oddly enough, whatever interaction came between them later was something she was looking forward to. Right now, she was content not to give that up.

As the curtain rose, Ema pushed her thoughts aside for the moment. There was a world on stage where her worries didn't exist. For a full hour and fifteen minutes, she was taken into a magical forest full of transformations and disappearing acts. In the end, Trucy Red Riding Hood was able to vanquish the wolf standing in her path with a magnificent explosion of fire and bring her kitten home. Ema was fascinated by the chemical reaction she must've used to create it. Then again, she was sitting quite close to the front and hadn't felt too much heat, but the effect was certainly there. Maybe that was what Trucy had been referring to when she offered to set Dayton on fire.

After the show, their group moved backstage to celebrate with Trucy. It was nice seeing Mr. Wright act like a proud father and Athena briefly excited over the tricks she had helped Trucy trial finally in action, although she paled significantly when it was mentioned that the illusionist would need assistance in the future. They took a group photo in the hallway with Trucy taking another picture with Klavier to post on social media. Ema couldn't help but think that his point earlier about promoting Trucy was extremely valid. No doubt that his appearance at the show would be all over the tabloids come morning.

"Need a ride home as well?" Klavier asked her as the festivities began to die down. Edgeworth had already departed and only employees of the Wright Anything Agency, current and former, were left in the room with them. Trucy had gone back into her dressing room to throw on some normal clothes...or whatever clothes were normal for her, and Klavier already had his leathers back on. He was holding his helmet, meaning he was waiting on her.

"Yeah, one second," she responded. It only took a few seconds to retrieve the other helmet from the dressing room and another minute or so to say their goodbyes. The fact that she was about to mount a motorcycle _yet again_ dawned on her and she pressed forward resiliently.

"I admit, I'm surprised," Klavier commented casually as they reached the garage. He wasted no time in getting on his bike, kicking back the stand. "I thought you would have found another way to get home rather than braving the streets on my hog again."

She got on behind him, hands on his waist and wondering, not for the first time, what the hell she'd been thinking. Ethical or not, this is was nuts. She would never reach 30 at this rate. "So did I."


	12. Bring Your Boss To School Day

**Author's Note:** I meant to upload this last week, but I was trying to figure out what "free time" was. Happy to know there are still a few of you readers out there! Thanks for continuing to support me! This is definitely one of my favourite feel-good chapters.

And yes, for the anon who asked, I did indeed help with the localization of _GK2 (Ace Attorney Investigations 2)_. What can I say? I love these lawyers. They deserve to be shared with the world!

Lastly, for shameless self-promotion, a friend of mine and I wrote another Ace Attorney one-shot about dorky lawyers learning to drive called _**Training Wheels** _ which I published earlier today. Check it out if you'd like!

* * *

 _ **Titration**_ by HawkofNavarre

 **Chapter 12**

 _ **Bring Your Boss To School Day**_

* * *

"Do you think you can still make it? Sora and Luna really want you to be there," her sister's voice came through the phone in a worried tone.

Meanwhile, Ema was trying to throw some clothes on as she talked to Lana. It had been a late work day and she was in the locker room of the precinct scrambling to make herself presentable. Unfortunately, her suspect had made a run for it and she'd had to chase him down five blocks before she caught him. The rare occurrence of rain had been present at the time, and judging by the pitter-patter against the windows of the building, it hadn't stopped. Of course that meant Ema had gotten drenched in both water and mud before catching the guy and now she was late for her niece and nephew's kindergarten graduation.

She tossed her soiled lab coat in her locker to deal with it another day and searched desperately for the comb she'd stashed in there. "I'll be on time if I leave in ten minutes, but I'm not sure how reliable the cabs will be in this weather," the detective replied into the speaker-phone as she grabbed the brush from her top locker shelf. "Whatever, though. I'll get there somehow."

"Alright. Just look for me. The man of the house got called in on an emergency," Lana told her.

"Again? Even on their little graduation night?" she asked, wrestling with her tangles.

"You know how it is. He wouldn't go unless it was really important. Besides, he was promised the next three weekends off it he attended to this one," her sister explained. "Anyway, get here as soon as you can. You know where the auditorium is, right?

"If I don't, I'll figure it out," Ema said distractedly. "See you soon."

"Yeah. Stay safe."

She reached out to end the call and promptly returned to her search for something dry to wear. Generally, she considered her vest and capris her uniform for work that was topped off with her lab coat but there was always the chance that she would trek through a dirty crime scene, so she made sure to keep a change of clothes on hand. She quickly tossed on the white blouse she had an a pair of short leggings. Ema spared a moment to glance at her appearance in the mirror on the inside of her locker door. Figuring she looked decent enough, she shut the door and flew out of the locker room.

The detective was in the middle of calling a taxi company when she was approached by the last person wanted to see. Dayton was still in his lab coat, meaning he was putting in a few extra hours today.

"Oh, hey, Ema," he said, eying her in surprise. Obviously he recognized that she was wearing something different than usual. "You look nice."

Despite the feelings of annoyance the mere sight of him stirred within her (which was previously reserved for a certain glimmerous fop), it didn't seem like he'd actually sought her out this time. She tried to suppress any rudeness that was a the tip of the tongue and just accept the compliment. "Thanks. Almost done for the night?"

His expression brightened at the olive branch. "I've got a couple more tests to run on that clothing fiber we picked up this morning. Then I'm done. You look like you're headed something though."

"Yeah, if I can even get there in this weather," she sighed, taking a quick look at her phone. Time sure was ticking by.

"Ah, Miss Skye! There you are!"

Ema blinked, a little astonished to see Klavier suddenly show up. Dayton couldn't hide his frown as the prosecutor jogged up to them, she noted. It looked like her fellow forensic investigator still hadn't developed a greater sense of respect for his boss, even after all this time.

"You weren't at your desk," Klavier stated. "You said you'd be available to go over tomorrow's testimony with me after your shift."

She grimaced, realizing that she had indeed sent him a text with that confirmation. She had double-booked herself for things that were both important and now she was in what she would accurately describe as a "pickle."

" _Crap,_ I'm sorry," Ema groaned as she pinched the area between her eyebrows. Stress was mounting within her quite steadily. "I did say that, but I forgot I actually have a thing to go to for my niece and nephew. It's all the way across town. I'm supposed to meet my sister there."

"Not to worry! I can give you a ride and we can work in the car, _ja_?" he suggested casually, snapping his fingers.

Dayton stared at her expectantly, as if he believed she would turn their boss down. She was going to disappoint him if that was what he thought. In these conditions, she was grateful to be offered a ride by pretty much _anyone._ Of course, getting her work done while in the car was just a bonus.

"Let's do it. I don't have time to waste," she replied before she grabbed his wrist and began dragging him out of the hall. She took a moment to look back at Dayton's reaction, his bruised ego practically showing on his face. "Have a good night, Dayton."

Meanwhile, Klavier looked slightly stunned, but followed her without protest. She didn't let go of him until they reached the building's exit. She pushed open the door to the parking lot with a relieved sigh.

"Well, that's one way to multitask," Ema said, her voice echoing throughout the lot. "Review my testimony, get to the kids on time, and dropped Dayton yet another massive hint that I'm not interested. Busy day."

"Is that what that was? Ach, I must admit, I feel a bit used." He chuckled, but she sensed an undertone of uneasiness in his voice.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"Not at all," was his answer as he absently rubbed at his wrist—the same one she'd grabbed onto earlier. Her attention to detail was nothing compared to Apollo's or Trucy's, but she definitely caught that. As for what it meant, she wasn't sure.

Ema didn't pursue that line of thought, however, and simply got into Klavier's car. "You know, Trucy once suggested that I pretend to date someone to get him off my back. It seemed like a really juvenile idea, but I guess feigning interest in another man isn't much more mature," she continued, trying to smooth out the conversation.

He hummed in disinterest and entered the driver's seat. "So it's across town, ja? That doesn't leave us with a lot of time, so we should get started."

Klavier kept his eyes forward while pulling out of the spot and Ema glanced at him curiously. He was being so weird about this whole discussion. She couldn't see what could possibly be bothering him. The detective let it go and focused on tomorrow's testimony. If something really were nagging at him, she was confident that he trusted her enough to tell her.

The cross-examination prep went by quickly as it always did; when there was something picking on every tiny detail that came out of your mouth, it didn't leave a lot of time for one to be bored. Over the years, Ema had gotten a lot better in phrasing and wording in court, but it didn't mean she wasn't still learning. By the time they reached her destination, Klavier had only finished grilling her through about half of her full statement. It wasn't the most open and shut case so it came as no surprise to her that he wanted to be thorough with this one.

"Damn, ten minutes before it starts and we're not even close to done yet," she said as she looked at her watch.

"We can meet a bit early tomorrow to cover the major parts of the last half, but I will otherwise rely on your expertise to get us through the cross-examination," he replied as he parallel parked close to the school.

Ema bit her bottom lip, not wanting to be even a little bit unprepared for their day in court. "Well...if you're not busy, you can come in with me and when the ceremony's over, we can go back to the office and finish up. I'm sure my sister won't mind if you're here."

He looked at her like she was crazy. "You want me to go to an event with your sister, niece and nephew?"

"What's the big deal?"

"That almost sounds like a tenth date, fräulein."

She rolled her eyes. "We're colleagues who see each other more than we sleep. I think our level of involvement is a moot point," the detective drawled. "So?"

Klavier responded by shutting off the engine. "Exactly what are we here for?" he asked as he leaned over to open the glove compartment. He pulled out a neatly rolled up dark green cloth which he unrolled to reveal a long sleeve shirt. His hands were fiddling with his shirt buttons when she looked away, realizing he was changing.

"Lana's twins are having their kindergarten graduation."

"Ah, so a special occasion for the children."

She shrugged despite no knowing if he was even looking at her. "I think they want kids to look forward to coming back." She turned her head back as she responded—a little more than she intended and caught an eyeful of Klavier's chest. Clearly if there was anything Klavier still made time for, it was to keep well-groomed. Such was the way of the fop, although in this case, Ema really didn't mind. Her face heat up at the thought.

"Well, then I'm glad I keep a change of clothes. Stealing the attention off children is something I'd prefer not to do," he said, this time opening the center console to pull out a black baseball cap and a pair of aviators. With the ease of a hair stylist, he twisted his braid onto the back of his head and pulled the cap on. Sliding the sunglasses into place, he turned to her. "Am I not dashing, _mein detektiv_?"

Ema snickered. His disguise was good enough to throw people off his identity, but he did indeed still look quite attractive. He was going to draw a lot of eyes regardless of how well he was covered. "Just get out of the car."

The prosecutor had discarded all his jewellery in his car as well except for his earrings. Without all the shiny bling, he didn't stand out nearly as much which was helpful in getting them to the school's auditorium. Nobody stopped them in the hallway, allowing Ema to navigate through the building without difficulty.

Being that the kindergarten classes weren't that big, the auditorium was much less populated than any normal graduation would be. The lights were already dimmed although the event hadn't started yet. The chatter of parents surrounded them as they entered the room, Ema seeking her sister in what she was certain would be a very sensible outfit. It only took a moment to spot Lana's brown hair amongst the crowd once she led Klavier over to the spot by the right aisle of the center seats.

"Lana!" she called out, scurrying past her sister into the next seat. Klavier took the spot on her other side.

"You're right on time! It's about to start," Lana, dressed in a sensible grey blazer and pencil skirt, replied as she pulled Ema into a quick embrace.

"I brought a guest. Hope you don't mind," the detective leaned back a little to give her sister a better visual. Klavier waved and lowered his shades slightly.

Lana gasped. " _Prosecutor Gavin?_ "

Ema shushed her hastily, looking around cautiously to see if anyone had heard. Fortunately, it seemed that everyone was too caught up in their own conversations to have paid attention. "Jeez, he could've left all the bling on if you were just going to announce his presence to the world," she hissed in annoyance.

Lana simply looked irritated by the comment, but avoided saying anything. Instead the former chief prosecutor just smoothed out her blazer and acknowledged her guest. "Mr. Gavin, I'm glad you could join us, although I admit I'm a little confused as to why."

"We've got a testimony to run through later," Ema explained, waving it off.

"I do apologize for intruding on a family event, Fräulein Skye," Klavier added politely.

"Oh no, you aren't intruding at all. It's just a little thing the kids probably won't remember when they're older, but it's important to them right now," the private investigator stated with assurance. "Besides, you may as well be family with all the time I hear you've been spending with my little sister."

Ema's jaw dropped in mortification. _Of course_ her sister had to make romantic implications with a straight face. "Lana, could you _not—_ "

"Well, Ema is a very valuable detective," Klavier interrupted her smoothly. "I would be foolish not to employ those skills."

"You have good taste then," Lana replied.

They began to speak over her and Ema realized in discomfort that she had dissolved from the conversation. Lana had never actually met Klavier before, only knowing him through reputation and vice versa, but they seemed to be getting along swimmingly. Growing up as orphans, her sister had always been more of the straight-laced, serious type, the exact opposite of everything Klavier Gavin embodied. Heck, he was always so laidback when they were solving murder cases, even if he took the work seriously. Lana had been akin to a prosecutor like Miles Edgeworth, and yet somehow both of those people seemed totally fine with Klavier. Ema just found that odd, considering her own initial dislike for the man.

Soon enough, the curtains opened to reveal a podium in the middle of the stage. The principal approached it and began a brief speech on why they were all there today. Honestly, Ema thought a kindergarten graduation was a bit silly, but Sora and Luna had been really excited for it. If it made her niece and nephew happy, then it was good enough for her.

There were only about 50 kids in the event, which was great for them considering their last name was much closer to the end of the alphabet. About fifteen minutes passed before she saw Luna walk across stage. Despite how unnecessary this graduation seemed, the detective thought it was worth it with the way her niece was beaming as she walked confidently towards the principal. She looked like a mini clone of Lana. Her twin, Sora, shuffled out after. He'd always been much shier of the two, but he even looked quite proud of himself, even as clumsy steps carried him across. They both were given a piece of paper, probably some certificate saying they had completed their first year of school. Ema cheered exuberantly for them all the while.

The whole thing didn't take more than 40 minutes and all the parents began filing out of the room in search of their children. The lights came up, but most of the looks they received were really because Klavier was wearing sunglasses in the building. Nobody seemed to recognize him without all the hair and chains, apparently.

"I told the kids I'd wait for them outside their classroom, so we should head over," Lana said as she stood.

"Luna and Sora, was it?" the prosecutor asked, Ema nodding in response. "They're adorable."

"Thank you," Lana replied, leading them out of the auditorium and towards their destination. "Do you think you'll ever have kids, Mr. Gavin?"

Klavier looked surprised by the question. "I honestly hadn't thought about it."

"Well, you're at that age where you probably want to consider it," she advised without missing a beat. "Ema wants two or three."

"Or _none,_ " Ema interjected, frustrated by her sister's continued implications.

However awkward Klavier had been with her earlier, he appeared to take Lana's comments in stride. " _Nein, nein,_ Ema, there's no need to deny it. You don't think it would be cute to have your own little scientists running around the lab?"

Little scientists...? The image of a tiny blonde in a lab coat with pink glasses running up to her with a beaker in hand. Her brother, a little older and a brunette came scurrying up behind her with concern, taking the beaker from her and placing it on the table. Advising his sibling to watch carefully, he drew a substance into a pipette and began slowly dropping the liquid into the glass. Their mother stood nearby, smiling fondly.

Ema shook her head abruptly, returning to reality. Was she seriously imaging her potential offspring with blonde hair? This was all Lana's fault. "I've got lab assistants to do that. There's nothing 'cute' about it."

"You're right. Little rock star babies would be cuter," Lana remarked casually. Ema wanted to throw herself in a locker. Even subtlety was no longer something she was allowed to have.

This time, Klavier said nothing. Again he avoided eye contact and responded with a soft hum. It looked like her sister had managed to get under his skin as well.

The two children they'd come here to see come into sight soon thereafter. Luna sprinted up to her mother for a hug while Sora lagged behind.

"Mommy, we did it!" the young girl shouted as she unlatched herself from Lana's body. She waved around the piece of paper she'd received on the stage. "See? This says I did all of kindergarten!"

"Me too," Sora piped up with a little smile, standing behind his sister.

"And I'm very proud of both of you," Lana said as she ruffled the hair of her children.

"Aunty Ema, you came too!" Luna chirped happily.

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world." Ema flicked her niece on the nose. "Now there's someone I'd like you two to meet," she started, gesturing to Klavier next to her. "This is my friend Mr. Gavin. He's a lawyer, just like your mom was."

The hall was relatively empty, save for a few parents and their children who were on their way out. Klavier didn't seem to think he would be recognized, so he took off his aviators to greet the kids.

"Hello. I saw you both walk across the stage. You should feel proud of yourselves. Finishing your first year of school is quite the accomplishment," he told them, kneeling down to their level.

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Gavin," Sora said very quietly and very politely.

Luna, however, took a different approach. "Oh, you're that guy I see on TV all the time! The really handsome one! Are you a prince?"

Klavier blinked in amusement. " _Nein,_ Miss Luna. I'm just a lawyer. I don't think I would like being a prince very much."

The girl nodded sagely. "I wouldn't wanna be a princess either. Mommy says the desire to be a princess is just a social construct created by society to make money off the dreams of young girls."

Ema shot a look at her sister who seemed embarrassed. Obviously Luna had caught her mother ranting about the latest princess trend at some point.

"Is that what you think too?" Klavier asked her with a grin.

"We don't know what it means, but it sounds bad," her nephew admitted for his twin.

"Yeah, and mom was really mad about it," Luna added.

"Well, if not a princess, what would you like to be?"

Luna launched into a long spiel about how she was going to be a doctor and even Sora began to chime in about his current plans of becoming an astronaut one day. Kids...they were so outgoing and accepting. They didn't even question Klavier's presence.

"I've got to go over manners with Luna again," Lana sighed. Her daughter really hadn't picked up a lot of her personality. "It's lucky that Gavin doesn't care much for formalities."

Ema shrugged, through continued to watch her boss chat animatedly with her niece and nephew. "I called him a glimmerous fop for years and he didn't try to get me fired."

"You're right. It's all ended up in your favour."

The detective let out an audible sigh. "Lana, really? You've been pushing this all night," she whined.

"Yeah, because you _like_ him," her sister stated as if it were obvious, "and he likes _you_. Otherwise he wouldn't be here."

"It's for work," Ema grumbled stubbornly.

Lana rolled her eyes. "You can't honestly tell me you don't know how this looks. You invited a man to come meet your family. You made the implications all on your own."

" _He_ knows it's for work too."

"So you're lying to yourself and playing with his feelings."

" _Lana._ "

"Don't be angry at the truth."

She wasn't _angry_ , per se, but really quite flustered by her sister's argument. It was similar to what she'd discussed with Klavier earlier, brushing it off as work. That had been easy to do before Lana slipped into her head again. She'd brought Klavier to a family event and that Lana's initial impression of the whole thing was the same as her boss's shook her confidence a bit. Ema's decision that she didn't want to pursue any sort of romantic relationship with Klavier had been rock solid until now. In her mind, her reasons _were_ reasons, not rationalizations.

"Just figure out what you want, because I'm telling you how this looks from an outside perspective," Lana said.

An outside perspective...she hadn't heard anything from anyone else. It wasn't like it mattered anyway. She _did_ know what she wanted, and Klavier seemed content to continue with their relationship the way it was.

Besides, watching him interact with Luna and Sora, Ema didn't question her decision to bring Klavier with her. Sora, who was usually very quiet, seemed to be quite engaged in the conversation he was having with his sister and the prosecutor. Luna was far more outgoing, but Klavier didn't seem to be thrown off by her straightforward and blunt demeanour. It was a heartwarming sight. The kids really liked him and were getting along with him well.

"Alright, you two. Aunt Ema and Mr. Gavin need to work, so we are going to meet dad for ice cream, okay?" Lana told them, breaking up the conversation. "Thank them for coming. It was very difficult for them to get here in this weather."

"Thank you, Aunty Ema! Can you come with us for ice cream next time?" Luna asked with a hopeful glance.

"And—and maybe you can bring Mr. Gavin too," her brother suggested a bit timidly.

Ema smiled at them. "I can't say no to ice cream. As for Mr. Gavin, we'll have to see. He's a busy man."

"I'll be sure to clear my schedule," Klavier replied with all of his usual charm. Luna and Sora were both clearly smitten.

They said their farewells and headed back to the car. A mother of one of the children had been staring at Klavier for a few seconds outside the school and Ema had to remind him to put his sunglasses on.

"So, green, huh?" Ema asked him a little playfully.

Klavier looked down at his shirt. "It's a colour I don't wear a lot and is therefore perfect for a disguise," he answered good-naturedly.

"You're dressed like a normal person. _That's_ the disguise," she scoffed.

He chuckled as they reached the car, unlocking the door with his key fob. "Well, not many people have seen me outside my work clothes."

 _Not many people have seen you half naked either,_ she thought briefly, stuffing that image way, way further back into her mind. She would not allow herself to daydream about attractive prosecutors that she worked with.

"Meeting your family was nice," he commented as they got into the car.

"My sister's always thought you were a good prosecutor, even when I hated you for Mr. Wright's disbarment," Ema responded. "You got along well enough with the kids though."

"Children are simple. They just want to be respected," Klavier told her. He took off the hat he had been wearing and his braid tumbled down, looking a little bit frazzled from being hidden away.

"And did you? Or did you lie to them?" she asked bluntly.

"Lie?"

"About 'clearing your schedule,'" Ema elaborated.

He sighed. If there was ever a time that he seemed genuinely upset about something, it was right now. "I don't know, Ema. This was a one-time thing for work, _ja_?"

It had been a relatively light-hearted night, but the combination of Lana's perception and her own question was generating a lot of tension. She knew he couldn't have answered that question any other way without being rude and Lana's kids were smart enough to catch on to any sort of ambiguity immediately. Ema didn't know what she'd expected in asking. His answer almost seemed like a bait for her to say something different, but she had no other reason for him to come see the twins.

"Yeah, of course it was," she finally agreed, not knowing what else to say.

"So then shall we get to work?" Klavier quickly changed the subject as he started his car. His demeanour was cool, like the discussion hadn't bothered him at all, but the awkward tension in the air remained.

Work. Her only reason. "Yeah, I guess we should."


	13. Trouble or Nothing

**Author's Note:** I am really bad at writing action scenes, but I'm working on it. Guh. Thanks to those of you who've stuck around with me.

* * *

 _ **Titration**_ by HawkofNavarre

 **Chapter 13**

 _ **Trouble or Nothing**_

* * *

"You're _sure_ about the numbers? Alright, and it was most definitely Cascadia Drive? ...Yeah, okay. Thanks for double-checking."

Ema clicked out of the call with a sigh and closed her phone with a snap. She glanced at the nearby armchair and was sorely tempted just to sink down into its worn down cushions, but her integrity as a detective held her back.

It had taken three weeks, but Dr. Rhinke had finally been able to extract some information from the patient at the residential home. Only a few days later, they'd found out that the male nurse who had been murdered was connected to a massive drug ring. Digging deeper, it turned out the patient was in the care home under a false in identity and was the godfather of one of the biggest players in drug trafficking. Of course, when all that information came to light, this became one of the biggest cases Ema had ever had. Since then, the commissioner had been riding her ass like never before. That was why it was so significant that they get something out of this old man with dementia.

It was just her luck that they would find _nothing_ at the address they'd obtained. Even worse, Klavier hadn't been able to pull off a warrant with the piss poor amount of evidence they had. There were connections, yes, but with nothing concrete to show for it. That meant they had done the search on consent with no reason to tear up walls or floors. There was no confirmation that there was anything in the house, but there was no confirmation there wasn't either. She was so conflicted on whether or not the memory of a disintegrating mind could even be trusted, but it was the only lead they had, and she certainly wasn't going to discredit their psychologist when he had put weeks or work into getting out a few numbers and a street name.

Sighing, she stood in front of one of the four air conditioners in the room. Ema certainly couldn't blame the owner for blasting the cool air; today was hot, even for Californian standards. Deciding she would do one final sweep of this room, she placed herself at the doorway to take in her surroundings. The room was decorated with a white patterned wallpaper on light brown. Placement looked a little worn, but stuck down appropriately, meaning the walls were pretty much out of the equation. The floors were made of hardwood, meaning it would be easy enough to take out boards and hide the product, but these ones in particular were pretty narrow. They'd have to take out quite a few in order to hide a stock.

It was worth a check, she decided as her phone started ringing. Ema pulled out her cell and pushed down on the floorboards as she took a calculated path through the room.

"Hello?"

"Ema, did you find anything?" Klavier asked urgently.

She snickered. "Oh, yeah, sure. That's why I called to inform you of all the drugs I found," the detective replied dryly.

"Ach, I get it. No need to bite," he chuckled.

"What, you don't like being bitten?" Ema shot back. It was only when there was a awkward silence from the other side that she realized her words sounded a lot like flirting. Shaking off her embarrassment, she focused on the task at hand. " _Any_ way, we're back to square one. There's nothing in the house that the team saw and the home owner has a squeaky clean record. I'm not sure what else we can do."

Thankfully, Klavier ignored their earlier exchange as well. "Whoever executed the nurse may have more information on where the drugs are being held. Square one means finding the killer."

It was a frustrating thought when the evidence they'd found at the scene was worthless in identifying the culprit, but just like these floorboards, it didn't hurt to heck twice. "I'm going to head back to the precinct after this and I'll go over both cases again. Maybe I'll find a loose end they didn't tie up," she told him as she stepped into the middle of the room. She'd finished testing the perimeter and things weren't looking so promising.

"Then I'll stop by to see if I can offer a second set of eyes after my meeting with Herr Edgeworth."

"Don't," she told him. "Get some rest. You have a concert in a couple days."

"As do you," Klavier replied evenly. "Need I remind you how essential having sharp security was at my last performance?"

Yes, the very same performance that had occurred last month and had blown their relationship wide open. The ensuing fight wasn't something she liked to think about and the accidental confession that followed always made her want to jump into a hole and die.

"Fair point," she answered with a sigh. She _really_ didn't want to let this case go for the night, especially with how high profile it was, but she was going to have to hang up her lab coat for the night if she didn't figure anything out by five. Detective Spex, who had been assigned to basically partner up with her to try and clinch the big drug trafficker, would just have to deal with sorting through files by himself tonight. With what happened at the last concert, she wasn't going to walk in to her second job unprepared. "Okay, fine. I'll take an early night."

"Then I will follow your lead," the prosecutor responded cheerfully. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ema. Have a good night."

"Yeah, you too," she said before hanging up the call. She slid her cell phone away and placed her hands on her hips, letting out a long breath. Taking in the room one final time, Ema finally decided that it was time to wrap things up. She didn't want to waste any more time on a dead lead.

Feeling distinctly unfulfilled, she signaled to her subordinates that it was time to go. Well, who knew? She still had a couple hours to go before she was officially off the clock. Maybe by then, she'd figure something out.

* * *

Ema was irritated. Sleeping early was supposed to have been a _good_ thing, yet here she was suffering over all the unproductive seconds ticking by. All she wanted to do was jump up and go back to the precinct and puzzle out where the hell they were keeping all those drugs! Alas, she had told Klavier that she would get some rest and she didn't want to be a hypocrite given that she'd been the one doling out advice in the first place. Still, that didn't do anything to calm her racing mind.

She'd gone over both murders so thoroughly that she was sure she hadn't missed anything. These people were professionals, so it was no surprise that there was a huge lack of evidence when it came to finding crime bosses' hired executioners. The guy had to know they were onto him by now, considering his mentally deteriorating godfather was in their hands. Frankly, the forensic investigator was surprised the police hadn't been targeted yet. Then again, an attack on law enforcement would make the culprit blindingly obvious through a physical evidentiary standpoint, so the man's next move would likely be something much more clandestine.

She swept through the case files mentally yet again. If...Ema wasn't missing anything, then the only lead remained the godfather. He had been spouting gibberish for days until Dr. Rhinke had coaxed that address out of him. She still couldn't believe that they hadn't found anything at the place. They'd spent hours searching the place from top to bottom in the afternoon heat, and still _nothing_. Hell, the only place that had been tolerable to stand in was the living room, and that was because of all the air conditioners in there.

 _Wait a minute..._ Ema thought. _But the home owner just got in a couple minutes after our team arrived._

She sat up in her bed abruptly and snatched her phone off her nightstand, dialing the number for Spex's desk.

"Hello, Detective Spex speaking."

"Spex, it's Skye. Do we have a uniform at the address Dr. Rhinke gave us?" she asked as she threw off her covers and got out of bed. Ema headed directly to her closet to search for her work clothes.

"Of course not. We both agreed the house was clear," he answered stoically. "It's two in the morning. Why are you awake?"

She wrestled her pyjama bottoms off single-handedly. "Because I don't think the house is clear. That woman come home _after_ we'd arrived, so then why did she leave all those air conditioners on?"

"Uh, to keep the house cool while she was out?"

"Or to preserve the integrity of drugs," Ema suggested firmly. She was pretty sure she was onto something. "Look, there weren't any fans or air conditioners in _any_ other room in the house. That in itself is a huge red flag to me. Even if I'm wrong, it needs to be checked out. No harm done. But if I'm right, they know the cops were sniffing around one of those storage areas. Everything could be gone by tomorrow."

"...Alright, but if we're really going to search, we need a warrant. I'll send a uniform to patrol."

"No, I'll go. I can't sleep anyway. I'll even do you another favour and call Gavin myself. Maybe something I see on recon will make getting the warrant easier."

He paused. "I thought you didn't have a car."

Ema rolled her eyes. Of all the things for him to catch... "I'll use one of those car share services. It's just recon."

"Fine. Let me know if you need back up," Spex stated in his typical no-nonsense tone.

"Will do," she responded, then threw her phone down so that she could finish getting dressed.

It only took a minute to throw on her usual vest and crop pants, but she thought better of bringing her lab coat. Instead, she threw on a black overcoat that would stand out much less; the last thing she wanted was to get caught for wearing noticeable clothes. She pulled her hair up into a much more manageable ponytail and flew out the door in search of the nearest car-share vehicle.

She was lucky that the house was only about a ten minute drive away from her own apartment. Even better, at this hour, there was basically nobody on the road so her self-induced nausea was prevented seeing as her foot wasn't constantly riding the brake. As she pulled up across the street from the house, the detective absently remembered she had to call Klavier about the warrant. She shut off the engine and sat her phone on the dash, turning on speaker phone. He really wasn't going to be happy about this.

"... _Ja?_ " the former rock star answered in a groggy voice after a few rings.

"Hey, it's me. Sorry to wake you, but I think I've got a new premise for a warrant and I've got several witnesses to back me up," Ema said, getting straight down to business.

"Ema...? What time is it? You said you would sleep," he stated pointedly, though she could still hear the sleep in his voice. He sounded more like a whiny little boy than annoyed she wasn't currently at home in her bed.

Ema settled into her seat, popping off her seatbelt. It could be a long night; it didn't hurt to get comfortable. "Well, I tried and it didn't work, but at least I'm reworking a lead now."

She heard shifting coming from the other end of the line, "You said you needed a warrant. Am I to guess you've found something new to follow?" he asked, now sounding little more awake.

"Old lead, new revelation," she explained airily. "Spex can fill you in, but the gist is: lots of air conditioners, probably lots of drugs."

"So same house and no warrant," he filled in the blanks. "I'm still missing the evidence we need to get one. Perhaps you have something new?"

"Reasonable belief that—" Ema paused as a white van pulled up on the other side of the street in front of the house. Three sets of boots hit the ground and headed towards the door where they were greeted by the lady of the house. The detective sunk down lower to ensure she wasn't seen as the home owner peeked both ways out the door.

"Care to finish that thought? Ema?"

"Shh!" she hissed at her phone. "I've got movement!"

"Movement? Should I call Herr Spex and get him to send backup?" he asked in concern.

"No, no," Ema did her best to stay hidden while craning her neck to see what was happening. "I'm not even sure if—oh _shit!_ One of them went back to grab a gas can!"

Even under the dim glow of the streetlights, it was easy to make out the red plastic container left in the walkway. They were likely planning on moving the drugs and then torching the place now that cops had gone snooping around it.

"Ema, what's going on? It doesn't sound like—"

"Call me back in ten minutes," she told him, briefly checking the time before she closed her phone up. She peered through the driver's side window to see another one of the men drop off a duffle bag in the back of the van.

She was thanking her lucky stars that she was in a car share vehicle that nobody would think twice about as she quietly manoeuvred to the passenger's side to get out. She closed the door with as little noise as possible and was grateful when the man didn't seem to notice. He moved over to the walkway of the house and ducked his head to light a cigarette. Seeing her chance, she stealthily moved to the back of the van where the doors were still open. Ema rolled inside and pulled out her gun as a precaution, then looked inside the duffle.

Bingo. Loads upon loads of opioids lay huddled in their bottles in the bag. She didn't need that warrant anymore.

Just then, she heard voices from outside the van and realized another bag was being passed off to the guy by the van. Hurriedly, she pressed herself against the inner wall of the van, waiting for him to approach. The footsteps gradually grew closer until the man turned to place the duffle into the back. Their eyes locked. His grew as wide as saucers.

"Hey," Ema greet him casually, and he needed a second to drop his product and go for his gun, just as she'd thought. That second was all she needed.

Jumping forward to grab the edge of the van's roof, she used her momentum and swung her heel right into the man's face. He fell to the ground, unconscious, and she immediately got out of the car to cuff him. As soon as the shackles were in place, she fired off a text to Spex for back up with every intention of waiting for it. That was when she realized the wonderful fact that the container full of gas was no longer outside.

Ema mentally groaned. They planned on torching this place sooner than her backup would arrive. She had to go this one alone or at least attempt to stall them.

Pushing away all her reservations about going solo, the forensic investigator dashed over to the house, making her way along the side to get to the back door. Once they saw their third cuffed, they would undoubtedly come looking for her. Sure enough, she heard one of the men run back to the house, speaking in a panicked hush.

"He was in handcuffs! It's gotta be the cops!" one man insisted urgently. "What do we do? We've still got a bunch of bags in the house!"

"...We'll just have to leave them. We've gotta torch this place and go," the other reasoned.

"Are you kidding? The boss is gonna kill us! There's at least a quarter of a mil still in there!"

"What, you want it to get seized instead? That's gonna leave evidence that connects straight to the boss! Either we lose the drugs or we're fucking dead."

 _Leave it to goons to deliberate like idiots_ , Ema thought as she rolled her eyes. If they were really worried about getting out of here, they wouldn't have just stood around chatting about it. Still, their plans to set the house aflame hadn't changed, meaning she needed to appeal to their self-preservation if she wanted to keep them around long enough for backup to get here and lock the place down.

First of all, she needed to draw their attention. The detective moved silently to the back door, where she remembered the kitchen was, and knocked.

"Ellis, I told you to use the goddamned front door! Nobody's watching!"

Oh, she _knew_ the home owner was in on it. Ema felt slightly vindicated, but only knocked again as she stood to the side of the door with her back against the wall.

"Goddamn it, Ellis, I told you—"

The door swung open and Ema pointed her gun at the woman, now frozen in place. "Walk over to the post, _now_ ," she ordered, nodding her head in the direction of the wooden post supporting the roof. The homeowner complied without a sound and Ema had her cuff herself around the post. Now, knowing this one wouldn't be escaping, she left the woman outside on her own and entered the house.

"Ellis! She just went through the back door!" Ema heard her second victim shout, just as she wanted. Luring them in here on her terms was going to go a long way in stalling them.

She remembered the layout of the house well enough, planting her phone on the seat of one of the chairs at the dining table before crossing to the other side of the kitchen and ducking behind the island. In about 30 second, it would be exactly ten minutes since she'd gotten off the phone with Klavier. The sound of boots on the floor told her that one of the men had gone to check for her upstairs. The other was only moments behind, bursting through the kitchen door.

She glanced out from behind the counter to see her assailant carrying a gun with a silencer. He was looking around the kitchen cautiously as the woman hissed at him to help her from the post. "Shut up! Let me find this bitch first!"

Counting down the seconds, she readied herself. She was relying on Klavier's perfectionist tendencies to come through as they usually did. He was crazy when it came to his music and only a little bit less extreme when it came to punctuality. It was music to her ears when she heard _The Guitar's Serenade_ coming from her phone as if on cue.

The man whipped around, searching for the source of the noise as Ema slammed into him from behind. The gun fell from his grip as she elbowed him in the chest. He stumbled back as she threw her fist at him, but he had recovered and shoved her arm aside. Suddenly, Ema was on defence, dodging his return blows. A knuckle caught the side of her cheek and knocked her off balance and a second later, she found herself thrown against the island. She gasped as a sharp pain jolted through her back, then dropped to the floor on instant when she saw another fist headed her way. Pumped with adrenaline, she thrust her elbow into his groin and keeled over in pain. Grunting, she hooked him hard in the side of the head.

He fell over, unconscious, and Ema stood to grab her firearm from her holster for the next encounter, ready and alert. It didn't even occur to her what was happening when an arm hooked her around her neck.

She couldn't breathe. _Shit_ , she _couldn't breathe!_ Ema struggled both against her attacker's hold and to keep panic from setting in, but the feeling of suffocation was hardly something she could be rational about. Worse, her feelings of desperation only grew when she couldn't feet her feet on the ground. Air was her only focus. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish as she grasped at his arms. The room was suddenly looking foggy and all she could do was claw at his face.

Ema didn't have enough strength to do anything anymore. Her brain was empty and her limbs were flailing aimlessly. Desperately, she dug her fingers the face behind her. Her middle finger press into something squishy and then she was on the floor, coughing and gasping as air passed painfully through her throat and into her lungs. She turned over on her back, her neck throbbing, and was faced with the barrel of another gun. Ema was tired and resigned from the lack of oxygen. She couldn't think of anything she could do at this moment. Closing her eyes, she accepted whatever was to come.

A shot rang out, but Ema didn't feel anything. Slowly, she let her eyes open again to see Detective Spex in kevlar, holding a smoking glock.

He glanced at her will a cool expression. "You called for backup?"

* * *

Ema wasn't fully listening to the EMT that was doing a quick review of her health. She had some bruises around her neck and on her back and her throat was definitely sore, but there weren't any major injuries. If she could walk, work, and think, she hardly thought there was much of an issue. The thing that stayed with her the most was probably the gross thought that she had blood from someone's eyeball still stuck under her fingernail.

Unfortunately, the EMT seemed to think otherwise and began prattling on about the consequences of soft tissue injuries. Eventually, the man made her promise that she would stretch twice a day and see a massage therapist or physiotherapist on her medical plan. When he started talking about potential functional difficulties if she ignored her injuries, Ema found herself making a reminder to call her physio's office on her phone.

Ultimately, it hadn't been a bad night (or more accurately, morning). All four criminals involved in this specific incident had been caught and arrested alive. The guy who had assaulted her hadn't been shot fatally by Spex, and to top it off, another one was already talking. They'd inflicted some major damage on the drug ring.

As she stepped out of the ambulance, Ema took a moment to watch the officers combing the house. It turned out that the couches (including the one she'd wanted to sit on earlier, incidentally) had been hollowed out to hold the drugs. Obviously they'd tossed through the cushions, but they hadn't looked any further into the furniture.

It was then that she saw a worse night headed her way when a certain forensic investigator approached her.

"Ema! I'm glad to see you're alright!" Dayton said, his voice filled with relief.

"I appreciate that," she replied, forcing a smile. "Did the team find any new evidence?"

Immediately, his face fell, looking hurt. "So that's it? That's all we talk about now? Work?"

Seriously? He was doing this right now? "Dayton, we're _supposed_ to talk about work. What do you want me to do?"

He threw his hands up in frustration, still wearing the gloves he had been wearing while checking out the scene. "Well, you could be a little friendlier," he suggested irritably. "You're always trying to get rid of me."

"That's because every interaction we have involves you and some ulterior motive. I'll be 'friendlier' when what you want is _actually_ friendship," Ema retorted. Coincidentally, she was not feeling very accommodating at the moment.

"Detective Skye," a familiar voice cut in. She turned, noting the soreness in her neck, to see a very displeased-looking Klavier Gavin standing there, arms crossed. "Can I speak to you privately?"

Internally, she was just wondering when the hell this day was going to end. It didn't help that the sun would be rising in a couple of hours. Outwardly, she shot Dayton a look indicating that their conversation was over before heading to the other side of the ambulance in the middle of the street. Despite all the flashing lights, citizens in the area who had come in curiosity to see what was going on had been dispersed by officers a while ago. As far as privacy went, this was the best they were going to get.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as soon as they were concealed from everyone else.

"None the worse for wear. Just some bruises, but I'm fine otherwise," the detective answered with a shrug. "It was kind of close there for a second, but Spex and his team got here just in time."

Klavier was looking away distractedly. "So you're relatively unharmed."

She raised an eyebrow at his peculiar behaviour. "That's what I said."

"Good," he answered, then rounded on her abruptly, eyes blazing. "Now exactly what possessed you to enter a house with four hostiles without any backup or protection?"

Ema's jaw dropped at his outrage. " _Excuse_ me? My doing that is the only reason we have all this evidence right now!"

"It could have cost you your life," he said. "Do you think the evidence would have been worth it then?"

"Yes," she retorted stubbornly, "because I swore to protect and serve the people, which is what I did by getting all those drugs off the street. Newsflash, but this is what I'm trained for."

"You're trained in self-defence, not solo stealth missions. You weren't even wearing a vest! You should have waited for backup!" Klavier berated her. He looked like he wanted to punch something, which was a sentiment Ema could relate to right about now. The guy was relentless. All that effort into getting this evidence and practically the first thing he did was yell at her? That ungrateful fop...

"If I'd waited for backup, there wouldn't _be_ any drugs left to find," Ema hissed.

"It was a poor judgement call," he shot back venomously, "made by a poor detective."

Did he just...? Ema could feel the cold rage coursing through her veins. Yeah, she definitely wanted to punch something—mainly someone's pretty face—considering how disrespectful he was being For him to insult her as both a low enforcement officer _and_ as a person was way out of line. He was acting like some asshole who couldn't appreciate the lengths she'd gone to do her job right. He didn't care at all! All he cared about was...was...

It was with great alarm that she realized how utterly unkempt he looked, his hair up in a messy ponytail and with his button-down wrinkled. He had none of his costume jewellery on and was even lacking a belt. It was obvious he'd rushed to get here without worrying about aesthetics, and Klavier was _always_ worried about aesthetics. Whenever they had late call-ins similar to this, he generally still showed up looking glimmerous with a full braid and chains.

Her anger started rapidly cooling as his statements played back in her head. Everything was about how she could have died and put herself in a good position to do so. Well, everything except for that last statement which had just been an attack on her personally, which was something she hadn't experienced in a long time when it came to him. The whole thing seemed awfully familiar. Maybe because it was.

Wasn't...wasn't this the exact same thing she'd done a month ago to _him?_

Ema took a step back, stunned by the implications of this revelation. She was no longer taking his bait, unwilling to fight back. Keeping the astonishment off her face was impossible as she stared at him. "I'm... I'm sorry."

Klavier turned away, obviously reluctant to apologize.

"I get it. I do," she assured him quietly. "You're mad because you care about me. I didn't mean to worry you."

This time, he looked at her incredulously. " _Worry_ me?" he started in disbelief. "I wasn't worried. I was—Ema, do you know how _scared_ I was? First you hung up on me without warning, didn't pick up the phone when I called you back, and then I'm told backup was called ten minutes earlier! Until about 30 minutes ago, I thought you might be dead!"

They were both silent for a few moments after that. Ema wasn't sure what else to say. She'd already apologized and she was much too shaken from her epiphany to really consider what else she _should_ say. Instead, it was Klavier who spoke up again.

"I apologize for being disrespectful. It was uncalled for," he said softly. She could see on his face how upset he was, how conflicted he was being stuck between anger and fear, and she was filled with the need to comfort him. She could see his heart plainly because she understood what he was feeling. She knew.

"It's okay," she told him, moving forward and gently placing a hand on his cheek. "Klavier... It's okay."

She knew.

Ema kissed him, clutching his shirt in one hand and on her tip-toes to meet him. It only took a second before she felt him responding, his fingers ghosting against her back as she nipped at his upper lip. She'd gone on a few dates over the last few years—nothing that stuck—and had kissed a few different guys, but as far as first kisses went, this one definitely triumphed over them all. Never in her life had she ever felt so connected to someone else. By way of science, it was just contact of the lip epithelium and vermilion between two people. It wasn't some special thing and she didn't think much of it...until now. Was it normal to feel this close to someone just because of a kiss? Was it normal for something like that to that invoke so much emotion?

It felt like minutes but it was probably only seconds when Klavier pulled away, more roughly than she anticipated. The detective stumbled back, confused. The kiss had been _really_ good for her; had it not been for him? She caught a glimpse of his face only to find that he seemed even more upset than before. His jaw was tightly clenched as he glowered at her.

"You... You need to stop," Klavier said, voice unsteady. "You said you didn't want this."

He didn't give her a chance say or do anything. He just stalked off, leaving her to stand there alone next to the ambulance like a stunned deer in headlights. Ema knew she could've gone after him, stopped him and created an opportunity herself, but what could she say when he was right? She _didn't_ want this. The words had come out of her mouth when she'd been standing in his office only a few weeks ago. She wasn't looking for a relationship. She didn't need love.

Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that a piece of herself was walking away with him.


	14. A Picture Perfect Day

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the feedback, everyone! Please, if you see typos or grammatical errors, point out where they are to me. I'll more than likely blast right by them while editing and it's much easier for me to fix them when I know where they are. Anyway, there's one chapter left after this. Have fun with this one!

* * *

 _ **Titration**_ by HawkofNavarre

 **Chapter 14**

 _ **A Picture Perfect Day**_

* * *

The sixth time she woke up that morning was because of a phone call. After a restless sleep, it was only fair that she be disturbed when she was finally hitting a REM stage. The sound of The Guitar's Serenade had never been so annoying before. Ema grabbed her pillow and stuffed her head into the cushion as she whined and rolled over. She hoped this was a _really_ important case, because otherwise she was going to kill someone.

Pawing at her nightstand, Ema finally managed to pick up her cell phone and flip it open. "…Hello?" she said groggily, her throat still a bit sore from the night prior.

"Please tell me you've seen the news."

She sat up in her bed, knocking the back of her head against the headboard with a wince and running a hand through her hair. God, she really needed a shower. And probably some ibuprofen too. "Lana? Why are you calling so early?"

"It's seven. It's not that early. And you diverting to that statement already tells me that you _haven't_ seen the news."

Wearily, Ema checked the nearby clock. Lana's statement was indeed true. Clearly the lack of sleep was not agreeing with her. She was used to working late nights, but a solid four or five hours of deep sleep generally did the trick to keep her on her game. She had gotten maybe one cumulatively throughout the night. "What's the big deal? Was there a big murder or something?" she asked her sister as she pulled her knees into her chest.

"…No, but I'd say you're probably liable to commit one once you see the news," Lana replied enigmatically.

"Urgh, okay, I'm going to see what the heck you're going on about," the detective groaned, then clicked on the speakerphone. Having just woken up, the TV seemed too far away to turn on, but she always kept her tablet nearby. Often she ended up browsing on the device into the early hours of the morning whether she was reading case files or streaming videos online. She really didn't have any other reason why she would keep it under the pillow on the other side of her bed.

"Just…try not to do anything rash," she heard Lana say.

"Why would _I_ do something rash?" Ema asked, genuinely confused as she reached under the pillow for her device. She woke the screen and opened up the browser, typing in the address of her usual news outlet. The headliner was about the drug bust they'd pulled off just a few hours ago and the same event that had started yet another fight between her and Klavier. Just below that article, there was a photo in celebrity news that was only slightly smaller than the drug story. Her brain suddenly shut off as she saw what it was. She clicked on the picture to expand the article, not quite believing her eyes. Unfortunately, as the screen loaded the next page, the photo blew up to about four times the size of what it had been and there was absolutely not denying what it showed.

There, clear as day, was an image of her kissing Klavier Gavin.

"What _the fuck_ is this?" she exploded, mind short-circuiting.

"I think you know, considering you were there," Lana replied dryly.

Ema threw her tablet down, grasping her head. "Now is not the time, Lana! This is _not_ what was supposed to happen! We were fighting! I wasn't thinking, and he… He…"

"He what?"

"He got mad and stormed off!" she finished. "I'm on the front page of the news! This can't be real!"

"Well, this is certainly a lot more complicated than I'd anticipated. I thought you two had finally just stopped being idiots about this and got together," her sister continued through the phone.

"I didn't even know if he had feelings for me." Although she definitely knew now.

" _I_ knew he had feelings for you, and I'm pretty sure I told you that," Lana responded, exasperating Ema further. "But I didn't call to argue with you. Are you okay?"

Grateful her sister had redirected the conversation, she crumpled onto her bed and hugged her pillow. "I-I don't know. Two minutes ago I didn't even know any of this was public, and now? Now there's probably paparazzi outside my building."

"Is there?"

"…I dunno."

"You should probably check."

Grudgingly, Ema rolled off her bed, still clutching the pillow in her arms, and peeked outside through her bedroom window. Sure enough, there were reporters with cameras bigger than her head swarming the place. She scurried back to her previous spot feeling miserable. "There are."

"Do you have work today?"

"At ten."

"I can drive you. I'll pick you up from the garage so nobody sees you."

"…Okay."

There was silence as Ema stewed in self-pity.

"Ema, talk to me," Lana said in a soothing voice over the phone. It was a tone she was familiar with, the one her sister always used when she was trying to say that everything was going to be alright.

Ema wanted to say something, but she didn't even know where to start. There were just way too many things buzzing through her head right now. She'd already been upset coming home this morning with the way she'd left things with Klavier, and now _this?_ The pile of shit she was dealing with had officially turned into a public shit storm with more consequences than she could even fathom, and all because she had let her guard down for just a minute. She had weakened in the face of his vulnerability and shown him her own. In a normal world, that wouldn't be that big of a deal, but Klavier was an international rock star, and even though he had given up most of his music career, he was still a celebrity to the people. Ema never wanted anything more than to live quietly as a forensic investigator and all of that had just promptly flown out the window.

"Ema? Are you still there?"

"I care about him, Lana," she told her sister, "but I don't want this."

* * *

"What are you doing?" Lana asked her as they drove through the streets of L.A. towards the precinct.

They had successfully dodged all reporters, though Ema had still made sure to tie her hair in a bun and wear sunglasses. Instead of her usual work clothes, she was in red short-sleeve blouse with black leggings to make her less recognizable to even those who knew her. She had very unhappily left her lab coat at home as well, because even if she hadn't been wearing it in the photo, once people had identified her, they had pulled up multiple old images of her at crime scenes. If she were wearing her usual outfit, she would be found out in a minute. Lana, of course, had been the one to suggest all of this since Ema wasn't thinking very clearly, but she was thinking clearly enough now.

The detective was back on the news site, examining the photo carefully on her tablet. "I'm trying to figure out where this photo was taken. I was sure there was no paparazzi around. It was an absurd hour in the morning when we made the bust, and unless whoever took the photo lived in the neighbourhood, there's no way they would've heard about it by that time. Even the news teams didn't show up for at least another twenty minutes," she explained logically. Now that the initial shock had worn off, she didn't really want to think about what was _in_ the photo so much as how it even existed at all.

"Now that you mention it, even the angle of the photo doesn't look like it was taken by someone who was hiding out behind cars," Lana said in agreement.

Ema nodded. "And not just that, but did you see those huge cameras they lug around? It looks more like somebody nearby took this on their phone. Even if it's kind of dark, those paparazzi cameras take pretty decent quality shots."

"So then what?" her sister asked. "You think it was someone from work?"

"I think it _had_ to be someone from work," she replied tersely as the car rolled into the precinct's parkade. It would come as no surprise to her if some ditzy beat cop with a hard-on for Klavier decided to feed the media out of revenge. "When I find out who, I'm gonna..."

Lana parked in one of the stalls, shutting off the engine of her car before she placed a hand on Ema's shoulder. "Honestly, you're acting like this is the end of the world. It'll be tough today and maybe for the next couple of weeks, but it's all going to blow over," she assured her younger sister with a smile.

"How do you know?" Ema shot back doubtfully.

"Because that's just how these things work," the private detective stated as if it were simple. "Trust me, as long as you sort things out with Prosecutor Gavin everything will go back to normal. People care about this because it's new and interesting. Once the story gets old, they'll move on to the next big thing."

Well, it was solid advice considering there wasn't much else she could do anyway. Ema was certainly not looking forward to "sorting things out" with Klavier, but that was her own fault. Now she wished she'd just let him keep yelling at her. Things probably would have turned out much better than they were right now.

"I'll do my best not to do anything newsworthy," she sighed, leaning into the headrest of the seat. Letting out a long breath, she opened the door and stepped out. "Thanks for everything, sis."

Lana offered her another reassuring smile. "Everything will be fine. Let me know if you need a lift home, okay?"

"'kay."

Shutting the door, she watched as her sister pulled out of the parking spot and out of the parkade. That was the easy part of her day leaving in a puff of carbon monoxide. For all the blunt comments her sister made, she was easy to talk to and was always looking out for Ema's best interests. That woman was the one reason Ema felt like she really might make it out of this situation alive. Mustering up as much courage as she could, Ema marched straight into the precinct, head held high.

...And was promptly met with every single pair of eyes on her.

God, that was unnerving. Obviously she worked with a lot of the officers, but it wasn't as if she really _knew_ most of them. This sucked. Even wearing a completely different outfit, everyone knew what she looked like because she was such a high-ranking detective at the station. Oh sure, nobody cared that she'd been the one responsible for a massive drug bust this morning, but they were all fascinated by her love life. It was good to know that the police had their priorities in order.

Trying to ignore all the stares she was getting, she made her way to her desk and thumped down in her seat, glaring at anyone who dared lock eyes with her. She didn't even bother waiting to open her desk drawer to pull out the bag of Snackoos she had in there. Ema stuffed a handful of munchies in her mouth before she contemplated starting on her arrest report. She'd barely been awake for more than three hours and this was already shaping up to be the worst day of her life.

Just as she threw her stack of papers onto her desk out of the cesspool of old documents sitting in one of her lower drawers, Officer Tymid came up to her. The detective paused abruptly in her sorting to glance sharply at other female. This girl was one of the many who had had a thing for Gavin since day one; maybe she was the secret photographer who was responsible for the current whirlwind of crap that was slapping Ema in the face.

"Um, Detective Skye...?" the young officer started nervously. "The-the commissioner...he w-wants to talk t-to you..."

"Figures," Ema grumbled, standing from her seat with nothing else to say to her subordinate.

"And—!" Tymid squeaked sharply, even surprising Ema with her call to attention. "I just wanted to say...um, c- _congratulations!_ "

Stunned by the declaration, the forensic investigator could only stand there while the girl scurried off in a fit of terror. Well, so much for her being the photographer. She doubted Officer Tymid could even testify in court without drowning in her own tears.

With that out of the way, she headed into the commissioner's office and proceeded to have the most awkward conversation of a lifetime. He had seen the media this morning, and while it wasn't necessarily a good or bad thing, he needed to know how long this had been going on. A week? A month? A year? It was very important that he know in case someone tried to overturn a conviction on the grounds of evidence tampering between the prosecutor and his lead detective. There was nothing going on? Oh, he wasn't so sure about that. He might be an old man, but he knew love when he saw it! Them young'uns these days, always playing games instead of keeping it plain and simple! Now love was great and all, but she should really make sure she kept it separate from work because she was one of his best detectives and nobody closed more cases than she and Prosecutor Gavin! Maybe the two of them could go on a double date with him and his wife sometime! But that was a plan for another day.

And that was how Ema had been thoroughly traumatized by the police commissioner.

Though everyone continued to stare at her, she really didn't mind being told to stay in the precinct for the rest of the day. Apparently paparazzi was scattered around the front door, and even in the place that contained a ton of cops, they couldn't get rid of every single lowlife reporter that was parading around. The commissioner didn't want any of them following her to a crime scene, but he also emphasized that she deserved an easy day after the big bust that went down hours earlier. As long as people left her alone, Ema was perfectly content to spend her day cooped up at her desk. It would also be really nice if nobody else tried to congratulate her for something that was a much messier situation than they imagined.

Of course, she would never be so lucky. It was only a minute later that Dayton approached her desk in the midst of her pondering if the day could possibly get any worse. She really shouldn't have tempted fate...

"Ema... I need to talk to you," he said, looking troubled. She had never seen him so unkempt, his hair messy and eyes bloodshot. If she didn't have so much on her plate, she might pity him.

Unfortunately, she wasn't in any sort of mood to be nice, so she leaned back into her chair and glanced at him lazily. "So talk."

Dayton's eyes darted around quickly, obviously wanting to go somewhere private. Ema was not feeling generous enough to give him that option, so he pulled up the chair at the side of her desk usually reserved for felons she was booking and sat down.

"Look, I...did something," Dayton started shakily.

The detective's eyes narrowed. "Like what?"

"After you blew me off this morning to talk to Prosecutor Gavin, I...I felt slighted. I was on my way back into the house when I decided that I was going to apologize, but when I found you two, you were in a bit of a...compromising position." He refused to meet her eyes and Ema's blood started to boil as she saw exactly where this was going. "That photo of you two circulating around... I was the one who took it."

Dayton paused, fidgeting with the sleeves of his lab coat. "I just...seeing you with someone like Prosecutor Gavin. I..."

"I see how it is," she cut in as she rose from her seat. She couldn't even focus properly, she was so angry. She had smacked a few people in the face yesterday, but god, she really wished she could do that right now. "You don't like Prosecutor Gavin and you were you mad that I chose someone like him over you, is that right?"

He swallowed. "Y-yes."

Furious, Ema couldn't stop her tirade even if she wanted to. "And you took it as soon sort of _personal insult_ that it was him and not you, _is that right?_ "

"I'm sorry, Ema," Dayton apologized in a small voice. "You're right. About all of it. I sent in that photo because I was mad and I wanted you to see the kind of life you would have with someone like him, but the moment I did it...I knew it was wrong. I-I couldn't sleep all night. I didn't want to be responsible for the reason you're suffering."

"Oh, well _great job_ , Dayton! Because I'm having a ball!" she retorted sarcastically, voice rising. Heads were turning in their direction, but at this point, she didn't care who was looking at her.

"I'm sorry. I really am. After seeing the public reaction, I realized how poorly I've been treating you, disrespecting your decisions and thinking I know what's best. I'm not the person I thought I was and my actions are proof of that." He was cradling his forearms, as if trying to shrink into himself. For once, this was a Dayton she could deal with. "I'm putting in my request for a transfer later today. I won't bother you anymore, Ema. I'm...really, really sorry."

She'd never liked him before, but she really hated him today. Ema saw this sorry excuse for a man looking like a deflated balloon and she could barely drum up any compassion for him. Knowing that he felt his intellect was superior to hers, even if she'd always suspected he thought so, didn't help his case. He was the one who took that _goddamn photo_ of her and Klavier in a private moment before sending it to the press as some stupid act of vindication to show that Klavier wasn't good for her. She was actually contemplating the likelihood that she could avoid an assault charge if she let herself surrender to her rage.

Of course, she was not that kind of person, and no matter how angry she was, she considered all sides of the situation. Dayton did seem genuinely remorseful for what he'd done, especially since he'd walked right up to her and admitted his wrongdoings to her face. Not only had he apologized to her _three times_ , but he had also knocked himself off his high horse and acknowledged that he was kind of an asshole. Those were all things she respected.

"I'm not going to forgive you," she told him coldly, "but I appreciate your apology."

He stared at his shoes and nodded. Finally, he stood up and began to head back towards the lab.

"Dayton, wait," Ema called to him in a softer tone. "You should consider Prosecutor Sahdmadhi for your transfer. He could use some good lab techs in Khura'in."

Dayton give her a weak smile. "Sure. Thank you."

It felt like such a final conversation. For all the trouble it had been putting up with him, Ema was glad their interaction had ended on a fairly positive note. There was really nothing more courageous than a face-to-face apology. Dayton had screwed her over majorly, but he had done the right thing in the end. That was really all you could do when you made a mistake: say you were sorry and try not to let it happen again. That was...the best thing a person could do...

 _"You said you didn't want this."_

 _"I care about him, Lana, but I don't want this."_

Ema sighed. That picture wouldn't have even existed if it wasn't for her. Dayton hadn't done the right thing, but neither had she. There was no sense in blaming it all on him.

She had some apologies to make too.

* * *

At six, Ema's shift ended and she had never been so glad to leave work. Never in her life had she been interrupted so many times by other people around her office. Most wanted to congratulate her for making what most people considered "a great catch" in Klavier Gavin; others wanted to know all the juicy details of their relationship. One beat cop even alleged that Ema was lucky, saying that she'd never have to work again. She shut his mouth by letting him know that he'd be working forever as a beat cop if he didn't start minding his own business. At the end of the day, she was surprised she had gotten anything done at all with the amount of people who suddenly decided they wanted to talk to her.

It didn't help that she felt worse with every person who claimed to be happy for them. With all that was happening, she hadn't really had time to think about the reason she'd basically been up all night. She'd already been upset before finding out about the tabloids because of her fight with Klavier and the very confusing way it ended. The fact that it went public just mixed more issues into an already complicated situation. She hadn't heard from him all day, which was unusual since they were generally in touch about open cases. Klavier was undoubtedly already working on the case against the drug traffickers they'd caught this morning and he hadn't said anything. For the first time, he was really going out of his way to avoid her.

Ema walked down to the parkade to meet her sister for a ride home. Always one for being on time, Lana was already parked there when she reached her destination. Glad to be in the sanctuary of her sister's presence, she wasted no time in getting into the car.

"Hey. So was your day as bad as you thought it would be?" Lana asked her a little teasingly.

"If you had been a fly on the wall during my meeting with the commissioner, you wouldn't be laughing right now," she replied dryly. "I did find out who took the photo though."

"Really? Who?"

"I'll tell you in a second, but first, I need a favour," Ema said. "I need to...talk to Klavier."

Lana smiled. "Say no more."

They reached the apartment only fifteen minutes later with Ema explaining everything that happened with Dayton during the ride. Lana was also gracious enough not to pry at all about what her intentions were going to talk to Klavier and simply wished her good luck as she stepped out of the car. The car left and Ema found herself standing in front of a fancy apartment building with no reason to get in. She was also just randomly loitering around the sidewalk and though she had her "disguise" on, the detective was a little wary of being this exposed when she was prime tabloid material. Being spotted in front of Klavier's apartment was not going to bode well for her. Fortunately, there was a doorman there, meaning she had a chance of convincing him to let her inside somehow. At least it wasn't just straight electronics.

She approached the doorman, not really sure what to say. "Uh..." Ema began brilliantly as she began to lower her sunglasses off her face.

The doorman looked at her coolly, then smirked. "Ah, Mr. Gavin's girlfriend. Go right on in."

Ema flushed crimson but strode through the door. Well, she had definitely been recognized and his assumption was off, but at least this time it was in her favour.

She took the elevator up to the top floor where his penthouse was, trying not to think of much of anything. At this point, she couldn't lose her nerve. If she decided to turn around, there was no ride to get home and no way this was going to get any easier anyway. Of course, the silence that accompanied her in the elevator all the way to the top floor wasn't helping. Even some cheesy music would've been preferable.

Then again, she found herself at his front door far too quickly to have a good reason for disparaging the lack of elevator music. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.

No answer.

Ema knocked a second time and again received no answer. Great. He wasn't home yet and she had nowhere to go. She knew she could call him, but she was fairly certain he wouldn't answer. Why would he when he was avoiding her?

Instead, she slid down the wall until she was seated, hugging her knees into her chest. She'd been doing some avoidance herself. What happened after the drug bust had kept her up this morning until the distraction of the tabloids had come to light. Now there was no way she couldn't face this. Ema had kissed Klavier, an action that had been unprovoked and, clearly by some measure, unwanted. She'd thought the days of boys running away from her because she had "cooties" were over sometime between elementary and middle school, but way she had sent her prosecutor running for the hills a little over thirteen hours ago seemed to disprove this.

That wasn't it and she knew it. Ema had been the one to request nothing more than friendship. When she recognized the emotion in his eyes, she stepped over the line without even thinking. To him, there was rejection before he could express himself. He hadn't tried but it didn't matter; his passionate anger was the same as her own and she knew exactly what it meant.

That knowledge had drawn her to him. Ema wasn't about to deny it. After all, it had been _her_ legs, _her_ arms, and _her_ lips that had gotten her into this situation. Klavier hadn't ever done a thing to try and seduce her. Sure he was _nice_ to her, but he was nice to most people. He'd ever only used his charm on her expecting it to be thrown back dryly in his face, which she was happy to do. She knew that she hadn't fallen in love with him for any sort of shallow reason; she knew exactly who he was. Maybe that was why it felt like the worst thing ever when he'd reacted the way he did, so sincere but so quick to just leave her. Ema had been awake for hours replaying it over in her mind, watching his back retreat into the distance until she could no longer see him. With each mental loop, her heart hurt a little more until she fell asleep.

The ping of the elevator alerted Ema to its doors sliding open. She looked up towards the noise and found her eyes meeting the stunned visage of the man she'd been waiting for. His brow furrowed and he looked away as he stepped out of the elevator. Slowly, Ema got to her feet and stood in silence while Klavier walked past her without so much as another glance her way. She watched as he unlocked the door without a word and entered his condo.

"You can come in if you want," he said, leaving her outside in the hall. He didn't shut the door behind him. She followed him in.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked as soon as the door was closed. He was placing his things on the island in the kitchen, busying himself with sorting the change in his pocket one by one so he didn't have to look at her.

"Yes," he replied shortly, nothing on his face betraying any of his emotions.

Ema crossed the floor to stand at the other side of the counter. "Are you...in love with me?"

He paused, his finger on a quarter. "…Yes."

Hearing him say it for himself made her blush and sent her heart racing. The heartbeat was so loud she could hear it in her ears. "You didn't say anything," she pointed out quietly.

"Because I wasn't before," Klavier replied. He slid the quarter over to join the two others he had already sorted. "You came here to talk, but do you even understand why I'm angry?"

Her reply was soft, embarrassed. "Because I kissed you?"

He shook his head, finally meeting her eyes with a frustrated expression. "I liked you for a long time, Ema. After I pushed my prejudice aside, I could see you were a talented detective, and after each conversation, I found myself opening up to you more. I never wished for anything more than friendship because I knew you disliked me, but when you told me you loved me, you opened that door," he explained, words spilling out as if his self-control had finally crumbled. "Then you drew a line that you didn't want to cross and that was fine until you broke your own rules."

"I know I...shouldn't have kissed y—"

"It's not about the kiss!" he snapped as he threw a dime down onto the counter. It bounced off the surface twice before skittering off onto the hardwood with a clink. Ema stared at him anxiously, her breaths shallow. "It's about you touching me when you don't need to, using me as an excuse to escape from suitors—bringing me to meet your _family!_ " Klavier ran a hand through his bangs, letting out an aggravated breath. "Of course I fell in love with you; _you let me._ "

She swallowed, feeling ashamed of herself. All those things had seemed fine in her mind before today, but now it was obvious that she had been sending Klavier some seriously mixed signals. That hadn't been her intention—or maybe it was. She didn't know. Lana seemed to think it was. After all, actions spoke much louder than words. Otherwise she wouldn't have kissed him, right?

"I don't want to play this game," Klavier said quietly. He was bracing his hands against the edges of the island leaving the rest of the change in as much of a scattered mess as she felt.

God, she had screwed up _so much_. Trying just to pretend that her feeling hadn't changed anything was the biggest mistake of all. She hadn't even realized half the things she was doing to contradict herself, but that told her everything she needed to know right now. As a cop, the media could be a really good or bad thing depending on how they got their information; as a person who was in love with a celebrity, the media was her worst nightmare, but Ema was going to own the outcome of her actions. She had led both of them to this pitfall of publicity and emotion.

There weren't a lot of things she was entirely sure of. She wasn't sure how she was going to handle this media attention when she couldn't count on Lana to be at her beck and call for however long that was. She wasn't sure if she really wanted a relationship right now because it was something she had put out of her mind and labeled as being too troublesome. She wasn't even sure if coming here was going to fix everything or make it worse. But the one thing she was sure of was held in that moment she had seen Klavier staring down the barrel of a gun. She couldn't lose him, and that was all she could act on right now.

"I'm not playing a game," Ema finally told him as she pulled a stool out from under the counter, setting herself on it. Her voice was unsteady and her fingers trembled as her hands balled into fists against her pants. "I'm sorry...for jerking you around these last couple of months. I just think...maybe I've been lying to myself because I haven't been thinking at all about being in love, and then it happened and I didn't want to deal with it. I've been running away from my own feelings...because it's easier. I don't want that anymore."

"Then...what _do_ you want?"

It was nearly the same question he had asked her back then when Ema had thoughtlessly blurted out her feelings in a rush to salvage both her job and their relationship. She'd answered honestly but selfishly. That response had protected her from further vulnerability at his hands. She wasn't about to make that mistake again. She couldn't make the mistake of hurting him again.

"I just..." _Shit_. Her eyes burned. Her throat was tight and it felt like there was a stone in her chest. What was wrong with her? Ema Skye _did not_ cry over boys, but she couldn't hide her fear. She didn't care about rejection, but for the first time, she was seriously scared that she'd done too much damage and that he would walk away. For all that he annoyed her, she could no longer imagine a life without him in it. "I don't want to lose us. I don't want to lose _you_ ," she said, voice cracking as she wiped her eyes on the side of her palm.

She didn't even notice that he'd come around the island until his hand was caressing her face, wiping a tear away. His face was blurred in her watery vision, but she could still his blue eyes looking into her own. Ema felt stupidly exposed and like a huge idiot for crying, yet somehow knew he wasn't judging her for it.

"You aren't going to lose me," he assured her softly before leaning in close. He hesitated only for a second, then pressed his lips against hers.

It was the weirdest, saltiest kiss she'd ever had. She clung to his words, suddenly feeling as if nothing else mattered. Her arms went around his neck, deepening the kiss. He held onto her waist as the heat rose between them. Hands started wandering, hers pushing the sport coat off his shoulders before finding the buttons on his shirt and his running up along the skin of her spine. Clothes hit the floor and she was lifted off the stool. She knew where this was going and only pulled him closer, wanting to take in every part of him. This was what everything had built up to. The tension, the emotions, the misunderstandings... She wasn't going to lose him.

A moan broke through her lips. There was a burning desperation inside of her that needed the raw intensity of this moment the same way it was radiating off him. She wanted to know more of him.

The bedroom door closed behind them and everything else fell away until only clarity remained.

She wanted to be with him.


	15. Walk of Fame

**Author's Note:** The End. Thank you so much for your support, everyone! My next AA project is a Justicykes/Klema murder (mystery?) fic that you will see in the probably not-so-near future. Until then, here is the finished product of Titration.

I'd appreciate some feedback on your way out. Thanks again!

* * *

 _ **Titration**_ by HawkofNavarre

 **Chapter 15**

 _ **Walk of Fame**_

* * *

Ema could count on one hand the number of times she'd woken up next to a man in bed. Four of them had been with her college boyfriend who she generally left before the night was over. One had been a one night stand after a particularly miserable night the second time she had failed the forensics exam. Today, she was going to have to add another hand.

Once upon a time, she had woken up in Klavier Gavin's apartment and fled from it as fast as she possibly could. This time, he was lying next to her and she had no urge to escape. He had definitely seen her at her worst last night and at this point, Ema just couldn't see a reason to run away any longer.

Well, that, and frankly, the sex had been really damn good.

Facing him toward the middle of the bed, she took in his unguarded visage. He was undoubtedly on the prettier side of handsome, especially when he had hair that was probably nicer than hers. She had never seen it fully undone before, but he really pulled it off with how masculine he made it look. Ema brushed a few strands to the side and his eyes fluttered open sleepily.

"Ach, the princess has not fled from her prince? Is this the right fairy tale?" he asked in a low voice.

Ema rolled her eyes. "I'm going to puke if you say something that corny again."

Klavier chuckled. "My apologies, but I think the point stands," he replied, smiling though his eyes were asking if she was indeed going to stay.

That really had been what she'd been doing all this time, and Klavier had let her. She hated thinking that even after being given an out, she lacked the maturity to be decisive. Even more, she hated the fact that she continued to lie to herself about what she wanted for so long. Flirting hard with her boss while naively letting herself believe it was all in the name of friendship was a pretty stupid thing to do, especially when she was both older than Klavier and nearly thirty. Then again, neither of them had been particularly mature about this whole thing. It wasn't like he'd ever sat her down to tell her what the hell she was doing, and him avoiding her yesterday, when she probably needed his help handling the media the most, was definitely not the adult thing to do.

Well, they were going to do absolutely fabulously whatever happened next.

"The media is gonna be all over this," she said humourlessly.

"They are."

"I'll be known as some glimmerous fop's girlfriend."

"Unfortunately."

"People all over the world are going to be judging me."

" _Ja._ "

It all sounded terrible, honestly, but lying here next to him so peacefully somehow made it all seem worth it. On the other hand, it was easy to believe that when she was alone with him in his apartment. She had no idea how she was going to feel when all of this was tested. Of course, Ema was a persistent woman; she wouldn't have finally passed her forensics exam if she weren't. The cloud of indecision no longer plagued her mind. Maybe it was time to be a little less selfish.

"Klavier..." she started as she rolled over in the tangle of sheets, "what do _you_ want?"

He blinked at her in surprise. "Me?"

"Yeah. This whole time you've been asking me what I want, following my rules, and doing whatever I ask. Before I decide on anything, I need to know what _you_ want," Ema replied. She was lying on her stomach now, head turned toward him.

Klavier stared up at the ceiling. "Will it matter what I want?"

She pinched him on his side under the covers, making him yelp in response. " _Yes_ it matters. Because we're doing that now. The 'us' thing. Not just me, not just you. _Us._ "

It seemed like he really hadn't considered that as he contemplated her question in silence. She didn't blame him; it wasn't something she'd been thinking about last night either. All her mistakes had culminated into that confrontation and all she'd wanted to do was make sure she hadn't destroyed everything she'd built with Klavier in the process. And then, well, obviously one thing had led to another... She certainly wasn't going to complain. Waking up today had been loads better than yesterday.

"I want this," he said as he turned to face her, placing a hand on her arm.

"This?"

"This," he repeated. "Waking up next to you in the morning, talking about things unrelated to work..." He stroked her naked back with a smirk. "...being able to touch you without having snacks being thrown in my face."

She snickered. "I suppose that could be arranged." Ema stuffed her face against a pillow for a moment, then turned onto her side. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think that's what I want too."

He tweaked an eyebrow at her response. "You ' _think'?_ "

"Oh shut up," she said with no real malice. "I haven't had a boyfriend in six years. I wasn't really expecting to have one ever again."

"You aren't even 30 yet and you've closed yourself off from love?" Klavier asked.

"Clearly not well enough."

"Clearly."

The corner of his lips tugged upward into a smirk and he shifted forward, pulling her into his chest. Ema felt herself blushing at the intimacy, which was kind of stupid when she thought about everything they'd done last night. It'd just been a really long time since she'd been held in such a way.

"So, shall we make up a new set of rules?" he asked her as he stroked her hair.

She looked up at him curiously, briefly distracted by the gentle rumble of his chest that occurred when he spoke. "What do you mean?"

"It just…seems like it's taken a lot of work to get here," Klavier replied. "I'd prefer not to let past mistakes repeat themselves if we're really going to do this."

Ema snickered against his skin. "I guess neither of us has been particularly mature about all this."

"Well..." He tapped her on the nose with his finger. "...I believe one of us didn't know what she wanted."

"Okay, _rules,_ " she retorted, but before she could say anything else, she heard _The Guitar's Serenade_ drifting up from the floor. She scrambled to her knees and looked over the edge of the bed. Obviously she and Klavier hadn't exactly been careful of where their clothes were being discarded, but her phone was somewhere in the pile of red, purple, black, and white, maybe now with a cracked screen. Their initial encounter last night had been anything but gentle.

Klavier smirked pointedly at her before he climbed off the bed to help her with the search. Oh great, as if getting the girl who wasn't interested him wasn't going to make him bigheaded already, now he knew she (begrudgingly) liked his tunes too.

He managed to fish her phone out from under her crumpled pants a moment later. Ema pretended not to notice how his eyes lingered on her bare skin as she answered the phone in one hand while digging into the pile of clothes with the other. Where the heck was her underwear...?

"Hello?"

"Hey, Skye." It was Spex. Ema's face twisted in confusion, wondering why he was calling her. "I know you're off today, and the last thing the chief wants is for you to be out doing field work, but we're shorthanded. I've got two bodies in two locations and first impressions say they're linked. I can't cover them both."

"It's fine. Just send me an address," she replied and ended the call. It took only seconds for the address to pop up among her messages. Sometimes she really liked Spex. He hated small talk and always got straight to the point.

"Herr Spex?" Klavier asked as he pulled out a clean shirt from his dresser. He'd put on a pair of boxer-briefs while she was on the phone.

"Yeah. He's calling me in. We're shorthanded today," she said, donning her own underclothes.

He eyed her worriedly. "You understand what this means, right?"

Ema looked at him quizzically. "What?"

Klavier crossed his arms and sighed. "Reporters? Photographers? People that make you snack?"

Oh right. That. After being cooped up in Klavier's apartment for the last fourteen hours without any disturbances, Ema had forgotten that being outside would turn her world into a place of relentless prying eyes, all wanting to know if she was shacking up with Gavin—which she now was, but that wasn't the point! Spex had mentioned that the commissioner didn't want her in the field and now she remembered why. They'd need extra officers at the crime scene to man the tape if she was there.

Making a noise of annoyance, Ema sat back on the bed. "Whatever. I said I was going to do this, so I'm _going_ to. What's the difference if it's sooner rather than later?"

Just as Klavier opened his mouth to reply, his own cell phone began to ring with an instrumental version of _Guilty Love._ His phone had somehow actually ended up on the nightstand, probably because it had been in his pants, and those hadn't come off until...

Well, until it was _necessary_.

She turned her attention back to dressing herself. Her pants were in the messy pile on the floor, but her blouse was in the corner of the room near the washroom. After retrieving it and evaluating the wrinkles that had accumulated overnight, she realized that her biggest problem was much worse than the paparazzi. Pretty much everyone at work had seen her yesterday. All of them were going to know she was wearing the same outfit today.

 _Oh god, a real walk of shame this time,_ Ema thought to herself in despair. Except she wasn't ashamed; she just didn't want everyone to know she hadn't gone home last night.

"Your fellow detective is requesting a warrant for a double homicide," Klavier said as he looked back at her. "It seems that both of us will be braving the reporters."

"It'll be worse when you get to the crime scene. Let's get this over with," she said, pulling her shirt over her head. "Is there some place nearby where we can grab something quick to eat?"

When he didn't answer, Ema glanced up at him. He had a dazed look upon his face as he stared at her with a small smile. It was a little embarrassing, really, to have something stare at her affectionately.

"What?" she demanded, feeling the heat creep up her face.

He chuckled, his smile widening. "Nothing. Just thinking this could be what all my future mornings look like."

The way he delivered it wasn't remotely flirtatious. It was just so sincerely sweet and meant only for her that Ema actually felt her heart skip a beat. This was it. She had turned into everything she'd ever hated about Klavier's fans. The little butterflies in her chest were quickly extinguished by the immense disgust she suddenly felt for herself.

"Rule one," she started, "no sweet-talking. Ever."

* * *

She gave up on feeling self-conscious about her outfit as soon as she walked onto the crime scene. With Klavier being as vain as he was, he of course had a steamer that she was able to use to salvage her shirt a bit. As such, she was able to present herself to the world wrinkle-free, but she was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday. It was obvious that people noticed. Luckily, they were gracious enough not to say anything even when their eyes did. Especially after Klavier had dropped her off. His car was less well-known to the general public, but every cop in the precinct knew exactly what it looked like.

Ema took solace in the fact that the paparazzi hadn't arrived yet, though the whispering girls on their smart phones behind the tape nearby indicated that that would no longer be the case very soon. It was fairly obvious that there were at least four extra officers at the scene, so she wasn't going to worry about it too much. There was still a dead body with bullet holes through his head lying on the ground and that was sure to scare off a few of the reporters with weaker stomachs.

She put everything out of her mind except the case at hand. There was a partial footprint that she carefully captured and a bullet shell lying nearby. The pattern of blood spatter was somewhat unusual for execution style of murder that the body gave at first impression as well. That seemed a little out of place considering they were in an outside parking lot with no good vantage point to shoot someone from. Examination of all the evidence kept her occupied until Klavier arrived at the scene.

They'd left his apartment in a hurry this morning, so Ema found herself admiring him from afar a little as he spoke to the lead officer. He had forgone the chain necklace today and looked a lot more casual than she usually saw him. He was wearing a navy button down (with the top two buttons undone, of course) with black pants, hair up in a loose ponytail instead of neat braid he always kept it in. There was none of that rock star glimmer covering up the person he was underneath it all. He looked more handsome this way, Ema thought.

He turned his head and shot her an arrogant grin when he saw her staring. She rolled her eyes and snickered at the size of his ego on display, but smiled back at him. In that moment, there was no one looking at them. It felt like it was their own.

Ema's phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out to look at the message she'd received.

 _Rule two,_ it read, _remain professional in the workplace. A crime scene is no place for googly eyes, Fr_ _ä_ _ulein Detective._

She didn't bother texting back when she felt him standing in front of her. Ema crossed her arms and fixed her prosecutor boyfriend with a dry expression. "My eyes are not 'googly.'"

Klavier's eyes twinkled mischievously. "Do you normally speak to prosecutors about your eyes? Or am I special in some way?"

Oh okay, so he was going to tease her and pretend like he didn't know what she was talking about. They were at work, after all, and apparently the new rules had already gone into effect. In fact, having him flirt with her was kind of a relief. They'd been dancing around each other for so long that she sort of enjoyed the very familiar interaction. "Don't flatter yourself. My eyes are focused on the dead guy with two bullets in his head."

"Ah yes, well, Herr Spex should be dropping by soon to compare notes," he said, his gaze wandering. "Maybe you should fill me in under less watchful eyes until then."

Ema didn't quite get the subtext, but a noisy shutter went off, drawing her attention. The screaming fan girls, she was used to; the crowds of slimy photographers, she was not. The area behind the tape looked worse than the horde of people that had been surrounding the front of her apartment building. This was the exact thing Ema had been dreading. She could see why Klavier was suggesting they try to go somewhere private.

A light blinked from her right side and she heard one of her colleagues screaming at the photographer to turn off his flash. Where could they even go? They were in a flat parking lot. Aside from ducking into a police car, there was nowhere to hide. As long as she stayed with Klavier, there was never truly going to be a place to hide.

"Let them take as many pictures as they want," Ema said, her tone firm. "I'm not going anywhere."

A girl shrieked and Klavier winced. For the first time, Ema realized that he might have been asking for his own benefit as well as her own. Clearly it wasn't the cameras that were bothering him.

"...On second thought, why don't we go talk to the M. E.?" She didn't want to give the paparazzi the satisfaction of thinking she was trying to hide from them, but she couldn't very well ignore Klavier's discomfort. The medical examiner was somewhat concealed behind a dark police SUV and that would at least block them from some of the noise.

He nodded in agreement and Ema placed a placating hand on his shoulder. Screw the fact that everyone and their mother was going to get a shot of this.

"Hey, we've still got a long day ahead of us," she said.

"Ach, I'll get through it," he replied in a tired voice, "though we skipped getting coffee this morning. I could really use a cup about now."

"We can go after we talk to Spex. But I'm paying for myself," Ema declared stubbornly.

Klavier sighed, obviously exasperated her resistance to being spoiled. "Can't a man just be chivalrous?"

"Hasn't anyone told you?" she asked playfully. "Chivalry is dead, Gavin."

* * *

It was officially a day of success. Ema had used her finely-honed skills of observation to order Klavier's coffee for him as well as her own. The man, of course, tried to jump in and pay before she could which led to a strong verbal and slightly physical altercation. She was not above snatching his credit card out of his hand when he tried to give it to the cashier and he had no problem shoving her arm to the side when she was offering up cash. The barista had been understandably baffled, but accepted her bill simply because it was within his reach. He hadn't seemed to recognize Klavier or Ema from the tabloids. However, Ema was not deaf to the giggling of his nearby coworkers.

They claimed a seat as far away from the window as possible. Klavier was still sulking a bit about being beaten during the bill fight, but Ema was concerned about other matters. Now that they were away from the paparazzi disaster zone known previously as a "crime scene," she could actually have real conversation with him.

"Your last concert is tonight. Are you going to be okay?" she asked.

It was clear that her suspicions were right by the way he began to fiddle with his cup. Klavier was still feeling the effects of the woman that had come after him a month ago at the last concert. The jumpiness and lack of interactions with his fans was quite telling.

He flirted with her, trying to make light of his uneasiness. "Will you be there?"

"Are you paying me?"

" _Ja_. No service goes unrewarded."

"I'd better go to work then."

They exchanged a mutual smile. That was it. The easy banter Ema had grown so used to, but the way they spoke wasn't just as friends anymore. She'd been single for so long that it felt strange for her to think of him as the man she was in a relationship with.

"This is the same shop we were in when you asked me to handle your security," Ema stated as she looked around them wistfully. "Did you ever think that me accepting the job would change things so much?"

"I believe you know the answer to that," Klavier replied, shooting her a pointed look. She blushed in embarrassment under his gaze, hating the reminder of her completely out-of-the-blue confession when Klavier thought they'd probably just be enemies forever.

She cupped a cheek with her hand with a huff. "It just happened, okay? Something changed."

"So you don't think it was a chemical reaction?" he asked teasingly. "Because I think of us like an experiment. The right formula, and there's a perfect reaction, _ja_?"

Ema stared at him, breathless. "...Oh my god, you are so hot right now."

Klavier laughed and took a sip of his coffee. Though they'd only sat down a few minutes ago, he gestured towards the exit. "As much as I'd like to spend the rest of the day sitting here with you, I don't think either of us has much time to spare," he said. "Besides, I think our little tryst is starting to find its way onto social media."

At Ema's confused expression, he nudged his head in the direction of the couple a few tables away from them who were filming or taking photos of them on their phones. She could tell they were trying to be discreet and failing at it spectacularly.

"Well, Spex wanted to make an arrest soon," she said as they stood to leave. For now, they had a double homicide to solve and a case to build. "I'll see you later anyway."

A couple of steps ahead of her, Klavier looked back at her and grinned. "And then you'll watch over me, _mein_ Detective?"

" _Ema,_ " she corrected him as they walked through the exit. The sun beamed down on him, his smile the only thing more radiant. Klavier almost seemed to glow in the afternoon light. This was who he was: bright, warm, _dazzling,_ like a star that was too pretty to be real and made it impossible for anyone to look away.

And she watched him. She, Ema Skye, the sarcastic cynic whose brightest quality was the use of cold, hard scientific fact, watched him. She was not afraid to see him and not afraid to see him looking back. No more thermal runaways. No more confounding variables.

Ema took his hand in her own. "I won't take my eyes off you," she promised.

* * *

 _Rule three: never give up on finding the right formula. With the right amount of substance, you will always create the perfect reaction._


End file.
